SHIELD 2
by CloakSeeker
Summary: Disclaimer: I don't own Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Takes place after S01E17 Turn, Turn, Turn - how I would like the story to continue
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

They were all sitting in the small mess hall silently eating their meager dinner. They had no information on Ward's status, whether he and Agent Hand arrived safely at the Fridge or not. Once there they would use a special encrypted line to contact the rest. But it has been almost 24 hours since they parted.

Skye was particularly silent. Between the events at the Hub and her little kiss with Ward, things seemed more confusing than ever. She just hoped that he would soon contact them to let them know that he was ok and Garrett locked up.

Coulson and May left the dinner table early, for yet another round of interogations. Coulson wanted to know the truth. And May had to tell him. Fury was gone, S.H.I.E.L.D. too. Therefore she couldn't use the lame excuse that she was under orders.

FitzSimmons played around with their "toys", while Triplett cleaned his gun.

They were all very anxious to find out more about Hydra and what it meant for S.H.I.E.L.D., what was left of course, and the world.

Only the next day in the afternoon they were contacted by Ward telling them that Garrett had escaped with help of some Hydra agents at the Fridge. Hand was dead and he barely escaped that same fate. They decided on a rendezvous location where May would pick him up and bring hin to the others. Skye wanted to go too, only Coulson said she had work to do. He would go with May alone. Not wanting to upset Coulson, especially after everything that has happened, she agreed and returned to her laptop.

Meanwhile, Garrett walked Ward through the plan one last time before they had to part ways. For now at least. Trusting his specialist will do a great job infiltrating once more Coulson's team to get first hand intel on what S.H.I.E.L.D. is planning, he gives Ward one last piece of advise.

"Get closer to the girl. The hacker. She would be an solid asset for us. And if she doesn't want to join us, well you know what to do", said Garrett, with a grin on his face.

Ward nodded and left. On his way to the rendezvous point he thought of what Garrett said. He was a specialist and he swore allegiance to Hydra. Well technically he swore it to Garrett, who was his SO and knows him best. But still. Although he knew they were all just an assignment, he couldn't help himself feeling certain things. Especially for the young hacker. She was that one thing no one had anticipated. She was an anomaly. He wondered if he could do it. If she refused joining Hydra. And suddenly the image of her lying more dead than alive on the cellar floor in Quinn's house made his blood boil. He clenched his fists and swore that one day he will kill Quinn for what he did. Before he even understood this rage he realized that he wouldn't be able to do it. Not anymore. Lorelei was right. He did desire another woman before her. Not May, but Skye. She had a strange magnetism to her that scared Ward a little. What if she made him forget what his mission was? What if... Before finishing his thought the Bus appeared in front of him.

The cargo door opened and he slipped inside. On top of the stairs was Coulson, waiting for him. He made a small gesture to signal that he wanted Ward to follow him. Ward climbed the stairs and followed Coulson to his office. He sat down on chair in front of Coulson's desk and waited for the team leader to speak. But he just sat across from him and stared in silence.

"Are the others all right?", Ward asked.

"Yes."

"Where are we heading?"

"An unregistered S.H.I.E.L.D. Facility."

Ward just gave a quit "uh" and kept silent. He felt a hole in his stomach. Strangely he would add. He wasn't the nervous type. He was the one that kept it together, when all hell broke loose. He couldn't understand it. He waited for Coulson to start talking.

"I know."

Ward was surprised. Did this man really know? Know that he was part of Hydra? That he was send to spy on them or even kill them, if necessary? Ward kept silent.

"If you hurt her, I will hurt you. Do you understand?"

Ward didn't understand at first. But then it dawned on him. Coulson wasn't talking about Hydra. He was talking about Skye. So he knew.

"Yes."

"She is a good kid, that had suffered enough already. One day, when I know you will fully understand you will find out. But for now you are dismissed."

Ward left Coulson's office and headed towrads his bunk. On his way there he passed Skye's. He went in and sat down on her bed. Everything in there smelled like her. A warm feeling spread throughout his body. What was it that Coulson said. One day he will find out? Find out what? Something about Skye?

He leaned back and fell on Skye's pillow. Before he knew it he was fast asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Hey, wake up", a soft female voice said. "Wake up, sleepy head".

Ward protested. He had the best dream ever. He felt so relaxed that he didn't want to move. But somebody was annoyingly persistent.

"Go away" Ward said with a grumpy voise.

"Excuse me. This is my bed."

At the sound of this Ward stood up straight. Stuttering he tried to explain what he was doing in there.

"I was tired and..."

"You forgot where your bunk was. I get it", said Skye smirking. She entered a little further and closed the door behind her. She pushed Ward back on the bed and sat down next to him.

"Skye, the others..."

"They are inside the bunker. We are alone."

"What bunker?"

"You'll see. I told Coulson I needed something from my bunk and he told me you were sleeping in there. So I offered to wake you up, while getting my stuff."

"I don't understand."

"You will. First of all..." she stopped talking and pressed a gentle kiss on Ward's lips. When they parted she smiled. "Second, I know."

Ward didn't know what to say. Once again someone kept him silent and anxious to find out more. But, like Coulson, she will probably say something completely unrelated to Hydra. He took a deep breath and watched her intensely.

"It took a while to figure it out, but I did. I'm a lot smarter than everybody thinks."

Still no reply. She kept on smilling, like it was the most natural thing in the world.

"You secretly work for Garrett, for Hydra."

Ward couldn't help himself but widen his eyes. He was shocked. How could she know. He didn't move an inch, but kept staring at her.

"You have to choices. One, you kill me now and flee back to your boss, letting Coulson know that you were a traitor all along. Or two, you come back to us. Our team. Whatever we will call ourselves. In any case, whatever your mission was I'm sorry to tell you my SO, but it failed."

Ward looked stunned. How could she know? How did she find out? He wanted to ask her. But she anticipated his question and put her right index finger on his lips.

"Take your time and reflect. I mean it. These are your options. But before you make up you mind, one more thing. Garrett might have been you SO and might know you better than you do, but rest assured, he will betray you, if Hydra wants it. As for us, we will always come and get you. Like before. Oh, and I really don't wanna die. So, that's about it."

Ward looked at her in awe. She was so tiny, so childish at times and yet she figured him out in minutes. It almost seemed like she was a Clairvoyant. The thought of that amused him, but he kept a stern expression.

"I need some answers from you."

"All right, shoot. Pun intended."

"How? I mean, how did you know?", he asked, practically admiting his guilt.

"I monitored everyone on the Bus. Ever since Hong Kong I worked with Coulson, in secret. Keeping an eye on everybody. On the Bus and off."

"What do you mean?"

"Do you remember when FitzSimmons said that Miles was the best hacker in the world. Well, his second best. The best hacker is the one that isn't caught, that isn't seen, the one you don't even sense or find a trace of him. That's the best. I don't wanna boast, but I'm the best. I have hacked my way into the system and kept an eye on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s activity."

Ward was impressed. So she knew all along. Hang on, why didn't she say anything then?

"Why didn't you..." He was cut off by her.

"I didn't know it was Hydra until the very last minute. I actually found out with the rest. They kept it really secret. But I could tell something was off. Coulson suspected it too, for a while now. But these idiots became careless the moment they came out of the shadows." Skye started laughing. Ward kept looking at her like all these was just a joke. But she knew. And than he wondered.

"Aren't you afraid? That I might kill you?"

"No. Wanna know why?" Ward nodded. "I know you. Maybe even better than Garrett. I have to admit, I read your file, thouroughly. But I also had the chance to get to know you on a more personal level. You might be this super-soldier-spy-robot, but every once in a while you are human. Probably more than you would like to show. Besides, I'm very good in reading between the lines. But enough chit-chat. What's it gonna be? Hydra or S.H.I.E.L.D.? And before you tell me your decision, have in mind that I will tell the others. So if you choose Hydra I will let you leave this airplane. Hopefully you won't kill me. But if you choose to stay you will have to stay for real. With us, fighting with us not against. If you stay you will have to earn our trust. And that's a long road. So?"

Ward looked away. He stared at the door, weighing his options. If he chose Hydra he would be exposed, so mission failed. And maybe have to kill her, Skye. Which he really didn't want to do. But if he chose Coulson and his team he betrayed Hydra, and Hydra isn't forgiving. He couldn't stay anymore, pretending. Skye would tell the others, regardless of his decision. Even if he would kill her to shut her up, Coulson would know and yet again mission failed. If stayed and teamed up for real with the others, fighting against Hydra he would face death, but at least it would be a just cause. And he wouldn't die in vane.

"I stay."

"Great. I knew it. Stay here." Skye left the bunk and headed towards the stairs. Ward couldn't see her, but a moment later she appeared in front of him, followed by Coulson.

"My office".

Both Skye and Ward followed Coulson to his office. Coulson sat down behind his desk and made a hand gesture for them to sit down aswell.

"I trust Skye briefed you?" Coulson asked, as if nothing happened.

"Yes. I suspected you for a while, May aswell. But Skye assured me she was clean. The most probable mole was you, Ward."

Ward turned to Skye who just shrugged her shoulders.

"What? Was I wrong?", Skye asked innocently.

"You have to thank her that we didn't kill you at the rendezvous point. I assume you are aware that you need to work hard to earn our trust?"

Ward nodded.

"I will ask you just this one time. Are you with us or against us?"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Ward didn't say a word. If he wanted to back out, this was his chance.

"With you."

"Good. We will keep this between ourselves for a while. We will brief the others when the time is right. Agreed?"

Skye and Ward nodded. They remained in Coulson's office for another hour talking about the situation and how they should proceed. For once Ward just sat down and listened. He watched the Rookie make plans, discuss details with Coulson. He looked at her in astonishment. Only earlier that year she sat in the interrogation room after she posted that video of Mike Peterson on the site of the Rising Tide. Back then Ward didn't think much of her. But little by little she gained his trust and his admiration. Even when she surprised all of them with an invitation to Quinn's party in Malta, where that scumbag held one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s assets, Dr. Hall. At that moment he still couldn't trust her, especially after Hong Kong and the revelation of her relationship with Miles Lydon, a well known hacker for the Rising Tide. That was probably the first time he ever felt jealous. He didn't realize it at the time but that's what he felt – jealousy. That someone else touched her. The more time they spend together the more he felt attached to her. And when she got shot by that bastard Quinn he felt helpless and desperate. His heart started to ache, physically ache, at the thought of losing her. Skye noticed he looked changed and talked to him. Since he didn't hear her she sat down next to him touching his hand.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Just a bad memory."

"Ok. Let's go. The others probably wonder where we are."

The three of them left the Bus and entered the bunker. Inside Ward was welcomed by FitzSimmons, both very excited that their team mate was alright. Ward looked aroud, but couldn't find May. As Skye explained, May was with Agent Koenig, discussing how they should proceed from this point forward. She then grabbed his hand and lead him to his room. It was at the end of a long hall way. She opened the door and entered, followed closely by Ward. The room was small, a bed, a table and two chairs. There was no other furniture than that. Ward sat down on the bed and held his head in his palms. He didn't even notice when Skye sat down next to him.

"I know this is difficult, but trust me it's the right thing. I promise, as long as we are on the same team I will always have your back, no matter what. As long as you trust me and fight on the same team with me I will be your most loyal ally and friend, if you like."

"I don't want you to be my friend."

Skye looked shocked. She didn't expect to hear that.

"You asked me before why I was upset. Because of you."

"Me?"

"I remembered you in that cellar, after Quinn shot you. And I realized something. I don't want us to be friends. I want more. I think it is a sign that you, out of all people, figured this whole thing with Hydra out. That you knew that I was in. I didn't really care if I was with S.H.I.E.L.D. or Hydra. To be honest, Garrett talked me into it. And I thought, why fight them. If they are the majority, why should I die for anyone? Well, you are not anyone, you are someone very important to me. Garrett's last advice was to win you over or kill you."

He stopped talking and turned to Skye. She just looked surprised. But not for the reasons he thought.

"I can't believe it."

"It's true. He..."

"A compliment. From you."

"What? Didn't you hear what I've said?"

"Of course I did. I'm not deaf. No surprise there. But you can be so sweet sometimes, without even realizing it."

Skye closed the gap between them and kissed him. The kiss was gentle and sweet, but soon it became passionate and wild. Ward lifted Skye on his lap to hold her close. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer to his chest. Skye had her left hand on his right cheek, while her right hand played with his hair. It must have been only a couple of minutes before they parted to breath again, but to them it seemed like forever.

"I wanted to this for a long time", Ward admitted.

"Me too", Skye giggled. "Listen, I know you think I don't know you, but I do. And I know for sure you are not a traitor. Well, yeah, you kinda are. But you are better than Garrett. You don't need that lying SOB to tell you what to do."

"He didn't actually tell me to join Hydra. Well he didn't force me into it…"

"Tell me, cause I'm curios. Why is Hydra better than S.H.I.E.L.D.? Because it's more of them than of us? Do they have something we don't? They might have a few weapons we don't have, but we have something better."

"What?"

"A cause worth fighting for."

"You mean die for."

Skye thought of his last remark. He was right. They would probably die, but wouldn't it be worse not to fight and let some lunatics decide if one should live or die?

"I'd rather die fighting than let Hydra dictate my life. Hydra wanted to launch those Helicarriers to kill millions without any remorse. Why? They didn't fit the new world. What if we join Hydra and one day someone within Hydra decides _Yeah, they lived enough. Let's kill them_ What then? We would die not even knowing it is happening. I don't know about you, but I rather die the old fashion way than like this. Besides, we are the good guys. And good always beats evil. So…"

"Optimistic, as always. I'm still not fully convinced, but I won't betray you. If I know anyone, than it's Garrett. He is the type that would kill you just because you looked weird at him. Besides since I am on the team I've changed. I didn't kill Nash because Garrett told me too. Hell, I didn't even know that Garrett was the Clairvoyant at the time. Only after I found out. From his mouth. But down there, hearing that psycho talk about you like that, that you would die, that he would make sure, just pushed me over the edge."

"Why didn't you kill Garrett when he told you he was the Clairvoyant?"

"Honestly, I didn't think of it. I knew Garrett was part of Hydra, but the events at the Hub and afterwards the flight to the Fridge had me pretty much preoccupied. I only then realized it when Garrett told me to kill you if you didn't join us. Them. I really like you Skye and I don't wanna lose you. So wherever you go I go."

Skye leaned forward and kissed him again. Only this time it was a gentle, almost innocent kiss. Only broken by a knock on the door.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"God damn it" Skye whispered. She turns her face to the door and yells out loud "Who is it?"

"It's me" Coulson replied. "I just wanted the two of you to know that dinner is ready."

"Ok, thanks. On our way." Turning back to Ward with a naughty grin on her face Skye pushes herself off of Ward and heads toward the door. Ward grabs her wrist and pulls her back down on his lap, kissing her almost immediately.

"We have to go."

"Dinner can wait."

"No it can't. We don't wanna upset Papa Bear. Especially you. Come on. And if you eat all your vegetables you will get dessert."

"Is that so?"

"That is so, my SO. See what I did?" Skye gets up again heading for the door and this time Ward followed her. Both held hands on their way to the mess hall, only letting go of each other before entering the room.

"Glad you are ok, man" Triplett greeted Ward.

"Yeah, you scared us there for a moment. Good to have you back", May said just entering the mess hall with Agent Koenig.

"Agent Ward, this is Agent Koenig. Agent Koenig, our temporarily lost Agent Ward" Coulson introduced the two agents to each other. The two men shook hands and sat down so that they could all eat.

Dinner was meager. Not really a five star restaurant. But it was the best they could get for the moment. They needed to keep a low profile. Needed to figure out a way to spot Hydra agents and well get rid of them. A task that was not only challenging but also quite dangerous. After the group finished their meal each of them returned to their room or to the lab. Coulson asked Ward and Skye to his room, which also functioned as an office. The three of them sat down around the table, discussing their next steps.

"I think it's not unnecessary for me to say that it is imperative that Garrett thinks you're still on his site."

"No, sir. What do you have in mind?"

"How did you decide to proceed once you came back to us?"

"Garrett wants Skye. She is a very talented hacker and Garrett wants her on his team. He ordered me to bring her to him."

"Kidnap her?"

"No. Seduce her. Convince her that Hydra is the future. That S.H.I.E.L.D. is long gone. And if she refuses…"

"What then?"

"I'm ordered to eliminate her."

Coulson looked at word speechless. Was it really a good idea to bring this trained assassin back? Coulson knew that Skye had fallen for him, long before she knew. He even thought that Ward had genuine feelings for her. What if this is still part of the plan? What if Garrett had anticipated this? Could he really trust him. Involuntarily he looked over to Skye who was watching him closely.

"I know. It crossed my mind too."

"What?" asked Ward a little taken aback.

"That you might play us. Letting us believe that we discovered you and now you have to play on our team, while you secretly report to Hydra", Skye explained.

"No. I made a choice. I want this. And I'm gonna prove it to you."

"I was hoping you would say that. Your exam starts tomorrow at 8. Skye, you know what I mean." Skye only nodded. "Dismissed."

Both Ward and Skye left the room and headed for Ward's room. Once there Ward wanted to know what Coulson meant by his last remark.

"That he will interrogate you tomorrow. His style. To know if he can trust you or not. But let's forget about that. I promised you dessert."

Skye started unbuttoning and although Ward would have loved to see her naked he stopped her.

"Wait."

"Don't you wanna?"

"Yeah, but not like this. I told you I want to do it right with you. Go on a date and stuff."

"It's gonna be a bit hard to go on a date, since Hydra wants me dead."

"I'm not gonna let them." Ward pulled her to his chest and held her tight. He felt strange around her. He felt both vulnerable and strong beside her, and everything he could think of when she was around was her smile, her eyes, her lips. Her entire body screaming to be touched by him, to be caressed, to be kissed, to be devoured. And he would have gladly given in. But she meant more to him than just sex. He wanted her, not just her body. He wanted it to be real. Yeah, he would do it. Gain their trust back, fight Hydra, make the world safe. For her.

"Ward", came a muffled sound from his chest.

"Yeah?"

"I can't breath."

"Sorry."

Ward let her go, reluctantly. But she did needed air. After she got her breath back she smiled at him. So sweet that he felt ridiculously happy and smiled in return.

"Wow. A rare Agent Ward smile. I'd take a picture if I had a camera. Ok, I'm gonna go now. Big day tomorrow."

"Do you need to?", asked Ward a little bit to needy sounding for his taste.

"Uhm, I guess I could stay a little while longer."

"Please, do. Let's just talk. I wanna tell you something."

"Alright. But let's sit on the bed. It's more comfortable, than the chairs. Beside, my butt hurts."

"Ok."

Ward sat down and leaned against the wall, while Skye sat down between his legs and leaned her back to his chest. For a while they were just sitting there, silent, just enjoying each others company. Ward held Skye tightly to his body with his left arm, while playing with her hair with his right hand. Skye traced little circles on his arm and waited patiently for him to start talking. It seemed like he needed some time to figure out where to start, so Skye gave him that time.

After, what seemed forever, Ward started telling her about his childhood. It took several hours before the two of them fell asleep in each others arms, still fearing that this was just a dream. A weird one, but happy dream.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Ward woke up early in the morning. Skye was still asleep, nestling in his arms. He was unable to resist to smile at this sight. He was thigking often of how it would be like to have her like this. Sleeping peacefully in his arms, ignoring the harsh reality surrounding them. All he really wanted was to live peacefully. He remembered the day they met. While interrogating her in the Cage, Ward asked her what she was after. _The truth_. And when she asked him the same thing he answered _world peace_. It might have sounded like a lie, but he meant it. He loved his job, somehow, but he wouldn't have mind having some time off every once in a while. And after he met her and really got to know her and Coulson's team he kinda fell for this lifestyle. They really became a family. Something he hadn't had for a while. Even though he did his job earlier, spying on them, deceiving them, he started to care for them as well. He liked that life, on the Bus, with them. It was so much better that the lonely one he lived before. At least at the end of the day he could relax with friends, forget about the horrors of the day and the mission, playing board games, having dinner conversations about little things. Just being part of something made him feel better about himself. He really enjoyed that. He wanted to enjoy it again. And this time for real, without any lies. So yeah, good bye Hydra. Hello S.H.I.E.L.D.

He felt Skye shifting in his arms and looked down on her. She was waking up and she looked gorgeous. She looked even better in the morning, than before going to sleep. She slowly opened her eyes and stared at him.

"Morning", said Skye, yawning almost instantly.

"Morning", said Ward, leaning down pressing a small kiss on her lips. "Sleep well?"

"Yeah, best sleep in a long time", Skye streched her back lifting her chest tantalizingly. She knew exactly what she was doing to him and she enjoyed it every minute.

"I know what you are doing", Ward said with a grin on his face.

"What? I'm just streching", said Skye, trying, but failing terribly, to soud as innocent as possible.

"We have to go. It is almost 8."

"What?" Skye jumped out of bed and realized her shoes were gone. Ward took them off after she fell asleep. After putting them on she headed for the door, only to be stopped by Ward who wanted a short make out session, before joining Coulson for interrogation. Skye couldn't complain, since she had a hard time letting go of Ward. She loved how their relationship developed. She could only hope now that the others would be as forgiving as she was.

After a wild make out session Ward let go of Skye to head for the interrogation room, escorted by her. The hall way was empty and silent and Ward had a strange feeling in his stomach, that something bad would happen. They soon reached a white door at the end of the hall way, which Skye opened and entered, followed closely by Ward. The room looked like an operation room, surrounded by monitors and laptops and a medical table in the middle of the room. In one corner was Coulson waiting for the two of them to arrive.

"Good, you are here. Take your place", Coulson signaled Ward to lie down on the table.

Ward obliged and waited for the next step. Skye prepared the laptops and the screens, while Coulson asked Ward to take his shirt off to place medical pads on his chest and forehead. Skye watched the two of them amused, since Coulson had difficulties to place one pad on Ward's forehead. She stepped closer and took the troubling pad out of Coulson's hand, licked it and placed it not at all gentle on Ward's head. Before turning back to her laptop she rolled her eyes at the two men and smiled.

"Alright, we are all set, A.C."

"Good. Before we start, Skye..."

"I know."

Skye went to the window that was covered by adjustable shutters. Behind the glass were the others, unaware of what was about to happen. None of them was aloud in the room and were therefore surprised to see Ward on the table hooked up to the laptops. Before Coulson started his interrogation he approached Ward we a syringe in his right hand, containing a green substance.

"Chill, Ward. We won't turn you into Hulk reloaded", explained Skye smilling. Somehow that didn't relax him at all.

"Close your eyes. We will start shortly."

Ward did as he was told. He could hear Coulson leave his side. Coulsn approached the window where everybody was waiting for something to happen.

"I called you all here to wittness this and to be fully informed. You won't be able to enter this room, we won't hear you. I want to ask you to remain calm through the whole process and keep an open mind. Don't judge before you hear everything. Ward, you can open your eyes."

Coulson left the window and approached Ward.

"Are you feeling alright?"

"Yes."

"Are you dizzy?"

"No."

"Are you ready to start?"

"Yes."

"I have injected you with a truth serum. A real one. Skye will monitor your reactions and health. If something is going south she will alert me and I will stop."

"Understood."

"What is your name?"

"Grant Ward."

"Your Level?"

"Seven."

"Are you an S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent?"

"No."

"Hydra?"

"Yes."

"Are you an Hydra agent out of choice?"

"Yes."

"Did Garrett convince you to join?"

"Yes."

"When did you join Hydra?"

"I was still a Rookie. I promised Garrett I will follow him wherever he goes."

"Did Garrett ask you to infiltrate my team to gather intel on us?"

"Yes."

"Was he very curios about my recovery?"

"Yes."

"Did you report on a daily basis?"

"No."

"How?"

"Every other week or after missions."

"Did you contact him or did he contact you?"

"He always contacted me."

"Did he tell you how to proceed?"

"I don't understand."

"For instance, did he ask you to seduce Agent May?"

"No. He just said to do anything necessary to gather the intel. No specifics."

"Are you now reporting to Garrett?"

"As far as he knows, yes."

"And in reality?"

"No."

"Why?"

"He asked me to do something terrible. That I can't do. It rather face death by his hand than do it."

"What?"

"Kill Skye."

"You played us for so long, pretended. Don't tell me you suddenly care."

"I do. For all. It wasn't my plan. But I underestimated you all. The missions brought us closer together. More than I would have liked."

"So, if Garrett would have asked you to kill anyone of us, you would have just refused?"

"No. I would have killed you. I owe Garrett a lot. I couldn't betray him for you."

"But for her, for Skye?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"I love her. If she dies, my life will be meaningless."

"So, it is for Skye that you betray your former SO."

"Yes. But not only."

"Will you help us fight Hydra?"

"Yes."

"Even go undercover to spy on Garrett?"

"If it is necessary, yes."

"How can we trust you?"

"I will do my best to earn your trust back."

Coulson turned to the window and saw the disappointment on their faces. Anger as well. He looked to Skye before he adressed the team.

"We knew that something was coming. Something big. We had no clue that it was Hydra. We learned that together with the rest. But ever since I was abducted by the Clairvoyant and deactivated Skye's bracelet, I ordered her to infiltrate S.H.I.E.L.D.'s system to keep an eye oyt for what was going on within. It seems it was the right call. We figured that someone on our own team was dirty so Skye ran thourough background checks on all of you. When Fitz told Skye that May had a private line we thought she was the mole, but it didn't make much sense. Of course, the revelation of being infiltrated by Hydra for so long changed the whole thing. After the events at the Hub and Ward requesting to escort Garrett to the Fridge, Skye became suspicious. It was her who first told me that Ward was the mole. But she defended him" Coulson turned to Ward, "she knew that he wasn't acting out of political conviction or anything like that. Skye was very thorough when she studied our files. She figured out why Ward helped Garrett. Do you know why you helped Garrett?" Coulson adressed Ward directly. Ward shook his head, not knowing what Coulson meant. "Skye, would you?"

"Sure. It has to do with your childhood. I'm not gonna get into it, cause it's private, but Garrett had intel on you, a psych evaluation from when you where recruited. He didn't just train you, he manipulated you. He knew exactly which buttins to push. Why else do you thing he made Nash say he would kill me. Or make you believe Nash threatened my life. He guessed you had feelings for me, and he knew Coulson figured that part out by himself. So it was logical he would piss you off to kill Nash, being the overprotectiv guy you are. Am I making myself understood?" Skye looked around seeing everyone's confused expressions.

"Kind of." Coulson answered her. "The point of all this was to not only show you guys, that Ward is one of us, deep down, but to show you, Ward, that Garrett was never your friend. He always manipulated you. You are a good guy at heart. Remember the incident at the Acadamy. We talked about bad seeds. Turned out that there were no bad seeds, only bad influences – Quinn?"

Ward nodded in approval. He understood what Coulson was saying. And it made sense. Whenever he tried to understand why Hydra was better and dared to ask something, Garrett made him feel like he was the most idiotic person ever walking the earth. Thinking back, a lot of things made more sense now than before.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Skye approached Ward to unhook him from the pads and helping him up. He put his shirt back on and tried to stand, but was unable to do so.

"Sit. The serum was very powerful and it drained you of energy" said Skye in a sweet voice. "Wait a couple of minutes and then try again."

She turned to Coulson and signaled him to go and talk to the others. Coulson left the room, asking the team to join him in the mess hall, where he probably would discuss the Ward issue.

Skye and Ward stayed behind. He was feeling terrible. Not because of the drug, but because of the disappointment he read on their faces. His team. Well, not anymore. They hated him. And for good reason. He didn't blame them. He understood.

"It's going to be fine" Skye tried to comfort him.

"How can you say that? You saw them."

"Yeah, I did. But I know all of you. They will forgive you, trust me. As long as you play nice with us."

"You know, Garrett isn't the only one who knows how to push the right buttons" Ward said facing her now.

"What? I'm not pushing anything" Skye tried to excuse herself.

"I never mentioned you. But thanks for admitting it." He closed the gap between them and kissed her passionately. Skye gave in and let herself go. Like before they were giving in to their feelings, asking for more every time their lips touched. They would have gone to the next stage, if Skye's stomach didn't suddenly signal it was hungry. Reluctantly, they parted and left for the mess hall.

They could hear the others talking, even fighting about trusting Ward or not.

"I don't care. He betrayed us!" May shouted.

"He is an asset. We need someone inside Hydra." Coulson tried to explain.

"He betrayed us once. Who's to say he won't do it again?"

"I say" Ward replied.

May looked furious. She approached him trying to hit him, but Skye stepped in front of him.

"You think this means something? I can kick you out of my way and get to him" May yelled at Skye.

"I know. I hope you won't. But if you do, you will have to go through me to get to him."

"Stupid girl. He played you as well. You think he loves you? He…" May was cut off.

"I know he does. The serum works."

"How can you be so sure?"

"I tested you all with it."

"WHAT?" was everyone shouting.

"We had to." Coulson explained.

"I tested you too", Skye addressed Coulson.

"What? Why When?"

"I put it in your coffee. Since it's tasteless you didn't notice. I had to. I needed to know that we were all on the same page. I realized that the serum didn't make you only tell the truth, but release you from your inhibitions. It makes you act on instinct and prevents you to over think the situation. And they" indicating the team "needed to see you like that. That you trust him and ultimately you trust me and my judgement. And honestly, did I ever disappoint you? Don't answer that. You know what I mean. Other than that one time I always told you the truth, even when it was hard to hear. Right?"

"Yes."

"As for you all, you will get the file, to read, to understand. Coulson, can you take care of that?"

"Sure. Get Ward to his room."

Skye grabbed Ward's hand and dragged him after her. They returned to his room where he sat down on the bed, trying to understand what just happened.

"Coulson will give them your file. The whole thing. So that they can see what Garrett saw. To make them understand how it was that Garrett was able to manipulate you. That it wasn't you. Not the real you. Trust me?"

"I guess I'll have to."

"I know that your file contains personal stuff, but it is better they know, than judge and mistrust you. You should get some rest. I will be nearby if you need me." Skye wanted to leave, but Ward held her back.

"Don't go. Stay with me."

"Ward, I have to."

"Please, just a little while longer."

"Ok. But just a few more minutes." Skye sat down next to him.

"Oh, one more thing."

"What?" Skye wanted to know.

"Call me Grant. Ward is so… formal."

"Copy that. Grant it is. And you can still call me Skye."

"Bummer. I wanted to call you babe or honey" Ward said, whispering the last part into her ear.

"Well, only if I can call you then Poochy bear."

"Poochy bear, really?" Ward had to laugh.

"Why not?"

"Come on."

"Alright. No bear then. Just Poochy."

"You will regret this" said Ward, grabbing her by her waist and pinning her to the bed. He started tickling her all over her body until she laughed so hard she begged him to stop.

"Ok, I surrender. No Poochy. But honey, ok?"

"That's better." He leaned in to kiss her. How he loved to do that. If he could he would spend the rest of his life kissing her. But he had to make sure that she was safe first. And for that he needed to eliminate the threat.

"Listen, I really need to go."

"Where?"

"My office. Yep, I have one of those now. It's actually a room full of computers. I have to run surveillance on Hydra."

"How are you going to do that."

"Oh, that's the beauty of it. They practically do it for me."

"I don't understand."

"Well, S.H.I.E.L.D. had no clue about Hydra. But Hydra needed to not only keep in touch with it's members but to always keep an eye on them, so that no one could leak information. Therefore, they designed a program to always find their agents, no matter where they were."

"Do you mean?"

"They are tracking their agents. Using microchips."

"But then they know."

"What?"

"That I'm here. With you."

"Of course they do. That's the whole point of surveillance."

"Stop and start over. I don't get it. Isn't this bad."

"No. Come, I will explain. I actually think I should brief the others as well. Have to check with Coulson first."

The two of them left Ward's room and headed for Skye's office. The office was on the opposite side of the mess hall, so they didn't had to go far to gather the others. Skye checked with Coulson and they decided to reveal another secret to the team.

"I gathered you here, in my little Bat cave, to share something with you. Are you all ready to get your minds blown?"


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

They were all waiting for yet another revelation.

"Ta-Da! I give you the Agents of Hydra", said Skye pointing at a 75 inch monitor on the wall. They saw a world map with several dozen lights on it.

"What is this" Simmons asked curiously.

"A map with all the Hydra agents" Skye explained.

"But how?" inquired May.

"Since Hydra had to come out so suddenly they forgot to turn it encrypt it or turn it off until they do."

"I still don't understand" said Ward.

"then let me explain. Hydra had to keep track of it's agents. No only know where they were but to be able to act if something would go wrong. Like, say a betrayal among them. So they created this little program to watch over their agents. Unfortunately for them, they forgot to encrypt the program in time when all hell broke loose. Because of that little mistake I was able not only to hack them, but to mirror their program into my portable system, allowing me to keep track of them. They have absolutely no clue that I'm watching without buying a ticket to their show. Dumbasses."

"Are you saying, that Hydra tagged their agents. With chips?" asked Fitz.

"Exactly."

"Correct me if I'm wrong" May started "but if they keep track of their agents using chips, doesn't that mean that they know where we are?"

"Of course they do. But it would be not only suspicious if they didn't but very stupid. Grant is the only one that can walk into their operation room and gather intel. So, we need Garrett and Hydra think that agent Ward is still playing on their team. He has a mission. Until they decide on another course they won't attack us. Otherwise they would have already. They want something. And although I'm bloody brilliant, as FitzSimmons might say, I don't buy that they send Grant back to us just to get to me. That's bull. They could easily find another hacker. Hell, they probably have a few. They don't need me. If anything they would need me dead."

"I know I might be the only one, but I have to ask. How did you come uo with this?" Triplett asked.

"Well, after Coulson's abduction and my near-death experience Coulson and I realized we needed to get a step ahead of our enemy. Back then we had no clue. But after he fired my internet nanny, my bracelet, I was able to infiltrate the system without any restrictions. No one saw me coming. I checked everything. The code changed every day, sometimes so often that I could barely keep track. The deeper my search the more confusing it got. Until I found a code embedded in the code. It was strange. Nothing I have ever seen and I realized it's a different language. Programming language. I'm not gonna get into technical details, but I knew the answer was somewhere in there. So I wrote an algorithm to analyze, follow and copy the code."

"That is bloody brilliant" FitzSimmons shouted in admiration.

"Thank you. I told Coulson about my findings and we realized that something was coming and we couldn't stop it. Besides, we didn't know who to trust at that moment so we had to prepare for the worst. In any case, even if Garrett would want to attack us, we would know in time."

"How?" Coulson wanted to know.

"Oh, right. Forgot to tell you. I was working an some super cool spyware."

"Gadgets?" Coulson asked.

"No. Software. Viruses to be exact. There different kinds. Trojans, worms. You might have heard of them. Your antivirus on your laptop is updating you constantly about them. Well I don't wanna fight them. I want to make them more powerful."

"How?" Jemma asked.

"Let me explain. A Trojan or Trojan horse is a spy. It's not technically a virus. Once in the system it allows me to access files and ultimately take control over the system. It basically opens a back door for me, so that I walk in undetected. Then there are worms. A worm does not modify or corrupt a file bad can cause damage not only to one computer but to an entire network, by making it run inefficient and slow. Next thing on my list – bugs. Long story short, every system or program has them, but the developer of a program usually comes with the right exploits to fix them. I intend to modify the exploits. Just make the system believe the bugs are fixed, when in reality they create security breaches within the system. But these are things that every hacker in the world knows. I am working on something unseen. I call it the Black Hole."

Silence.

"Black Hole?" Coulson asked.

"Yeah" Skye said grinning.

"Would you be so kind to explain it to us."

"Sure. Think of the black holes in space. They are huge, suck in everything, including light, nothing ever comes out, and yet they are invisible. Not to mention that the laws of physics cease to exist there. Google it."

"But what has that to do with the system?" Ward wanted to know.

"When I'm done programming it I will show you all how it'll work. But for now it's enough. I'm starving. Let's grab a bite."

Skye left the room leaving the team practically stupefied. Ward followed her to the mess hall, since he was as hungry as she was. They sat down across each other and started eating some toast with coffee. Ward let Skye have the last omelet, since she was begging him with puppy eyes. FitzSimmons joined the two of them, but kept silent during the meal.

Literally the moment they were done, Fitz asked Ward if he really was one of them. Ward assured him once again that if he wanted to kill them they would be long gone.

"Can we please drop it", Skye asked her friends. "I think we went through this often enough. This whole show this morning was not just for entertainment but for your information as well. He had the chance to leave, he chose to stay instead. Can we please move on and forget this episode. It's becoming boring."

"Skye is right" Simmons agreed. "We need to stick together know."

"Right" assured Skye.

The four of them stayed a while longer in the mess hall, just talking, like in the old days, when Hydra was just a bad memory from the past.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Several days have past since Ward returned to the team. They were all trying to figure out what to do next. One thing they knew for sure. They had to be prepared. They couldn't risk to fail.

FitzSimmons spend hours in the lab developing new gadgets and weapons for the team. May, Triplett and Ward trained almost the entire day to stay fit and strong. Coulson and Agent Koenig tried to stay in touch with other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents who were currently stationed in safe houses. As for Skye she did her own thing. She worked hard on her Black Hole, while watching Hydra. She slept rarely. For one, she couldn't rest knowing that she had so much work to do. But there was also Ward. She smiled to herself thinking of him. From a shy kiss in a broom closet their relationship evolved to a more physical one. They enjoyed themselves so much that it was sometimes impossible for them to let go of each other. Skye practically forgot about her own room and moved into Ward's.

She shook her head. She needed to stay focused. To get the job done. Easier said than done. This place freaked her out. She couldn't pin point the reason but it felt evil. Of course, she kept that to herself. There were other things scarier than an old bunker. But ever since they got there she was having nightmares. At first they were blurry, but little by little she started seeing what was happening in her nightmares. She saw death. Dozens dying, running for their lives, fire, gun shots. Sometimes the dreams were so intense that she would wake up in cold sweat, screaming. Thankfully, Ward was always there to comfort her. And after he calmed her down he distracted her in a very pleasant way. A way that she really enjoyed. But the nightmares returned. It was like her subconscious wanted to tell her something she apparently forgot. But when the nightmares became too intense she decided to talk to Coulson.

"Since when?" Coulson asked.

"Since we arrived here."

"Those anyone else know about your nightmares?"

"Only Grant. I wake up screaming and…"

"I understand. You said you see people. Can you recognize their faces?"

"No. I never saw them."

"And the surroundings?"

"No clue. But it has to mean something. I mean why know? And why is it always the same dream. And it is a very odd dream, too."

"What do you mean?"

"Well usually if you dream something you kind of hover over things. But in this one I'm in the middle of it. But it feels like someone is carrying me around. I can hardly move by myself."

"Where does it end? Your dream?"

"I don't know for sure. A bridge I think."

Coulson looked at her stunned. For some reason what she was telling made sense and yet not. He told her this story, but a little different.

"Skye, what you are describing is the way those agents found you, when you were just a baby. I told you the story. Your subconscious is playing tricks on you."

"Ok. Let's say it is about the agents finding me. Why do I don't see that?"

"What do you mean?"

"If you think that my mind is showing me something it had fabricated about how those agents found me, why don't I see that? Instead I see a big guy, holding me, well I guess his holding me, cause I kinda look up at him, but he is sleeping."

"Dead."

"What?"

"The agent that was holding you was dead."

"How do you know?"

"That's how Agent Avery found you. Skye, I think, what you are describing, these aren't nightmares, they are memories."

"What? That's impossible. No one can remember things from that age."

"If I learned something in my job, nothing is impossible."

Skye kept silent. She had to let this information sink in. What if he was right? What if those dreams were actually memories? Coulson told her about the massacre. But it's one thing to hear it and something very different to see it. Let alone relive every night such horrors.

"Don't worry. We will get to the bottom of it." Skye just nodded. "Did you tell Agent Ward about your past?"

"No. I'd like to do it."

"Are you asking for permission?"

"Kind of."

"If you want to tell him, go ahead. It is time that all these secrets disappear. I'm sick and tired of keeping them, not knowing what to do with them. So if it helps you, go and tell him."

"Thanks" Skye kissed himon the right cheek and left the room.

On her way to the gym she passed Agent Koenig that was coming up with elevator.

"Oh, hi Agent Koenig."

"Hello, Skye."

"I didn't know this place had an elevator."

"It does. We have the old archives in here."

"What?"

"Oh, you didn't know. I thought Agent Coulson told you. Well then."

"Hang on. Old archives. How old?"

"Since S.H.I.E.L.D. was founded. But only until twenty years ago. After that the moved the archives and digitalized them. But Director Fury ordered that every file in here should be copied and stored."

"Is it possible to have a look at those documents?"

"Ehm, I don't know. You are only Level One."

"Your kidding, right? Level One?"

"Yes a Level One S.H.I.E.L.D. agent."

"You do know that doesn't mean anything. S.H.I.E.L.D. is gone. Gimme a break. So, can I. Maybe I find something about Hydra."

"I don't know. Ok, alright. Go down to Level 4. That's where the archives are. But be careful."

"I will."

Skye entered the elevator and descended to Level 4. The elevator door opened and the lights started to go on, one by one. After about two minutes all the lights were on and Skye could see an ocean of information at her disposal.

"This is awesome."

The place was so huge that she had no idea where to start. She walked into an aisle and read the signs. The first one she saw was from twenty years ago and was about something that happened in Greece. She walked further and saw another shelf with a different location, but the same year. After a couple of other shelves and files she figured out how to look up things in these archives. She then realized. This would be the perfect place to find out about her past. So she walked even further until she found her birth year and the location tag China on it. It was a small box, which she took of the shelf and carried to the elevator. She pressed the button to go back up and leaned against the opposite wall. The elevator stopped and the door opened. She stepped outside seeing May and Triplett coming towards her, followed by Ward.

"Hey girl, haven't seen you in a while" Triplett said.

"Yeah. Was busy. How are you?"

"I'm good. Except for a couple of bruises. Courtesy of your boyfriend" Triplett pointed at Ward that just arrived.

"Hey babe. Let me get that for you."

"Ok, I will go now. Let the two love birds alone."

"Bye."

"So, what's in the box?" Ward asked.

"Hopefully some answers. Come. I got to speak with you."

The two of them went to their room where Ward put the box on the table.

"I have to tell you a story. About me. About where I come from. It will all make sense. But I need you to keep an open mind, cause what I am about to tell you is crazy and you might not like me anymore."

"Babe, what's up? You don't make sense. How could I not like you? I love you."

"For now. But maybe after you hear this you will change your mind."

"I don't…"

"Please. Sit down and listen carefully."

Skye started telling her story, fearing all the time that Ward would reject her after she was done. But there was no turning back now. It had to be done. He had to know. He was honest with her, she needed to be honest with him. And if he would reject her, well it would hurt like hell, but at least she would know. But if he loved her how he always said, he will help her and support her and be there for her. And maybe they could work together to figure out the rest of the story.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Ward was speechless. He didn't know what to say. Everything seemed fake. Nothing seemed to be the right thing to say. But he knew he had to say something. She finished her story a while ago and was anxious to learn what his opinion on this subject was.

"I can honestly say, I'm speechless."

"I figured."

Ward saw how her eyes filled up with tears. He got close to her and wrapped his arms around her, holding her close, trying to show her that his feelings haven't changed. He loved her, no matter what.

"I love you", he whispered in her ear, making her shudder.

"You sure?"

"Skye" he's voice warning, "of course. This won't change how I feel about you." He leans down kissing her gentle, but full of emotion, making her understand that he was telling the truth. "And if you don't believe me, you can always use the truth serum on me."

That made Skye smile. She gave him a kiss on his right cheek and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer to her. He more than gladly returned it and kissed her temple, breathing in her scent. They stayed like that for a long time, until Ward remembered the box.

"Do you want me to help you with the box?"

"Huh, box? Oh, yeah. I totally forgot." She turned her attention to the small box on the table, without letting go of him.

"You know, I love that we are like this, but I doubt we can do anything just standing here and hugging each other" said Ward smirking.

"Alright, Mr. SO" said Skye, pulling away from hin and getting to the box. She took a look at the content of the box and felt her heart skip a beat. This box might give her answers, answers about her long lost folks, about why S.H.I.E.L.D. tagged her as an 0-8-4. She once told Coulson that nothing could be worse than she had imagined. When he told her months earlier about her origin he said _it's worse_. What if this was just the tip of the iceberg? Was she really prepared for it.

Ward must have seen her troubled look and squeezed her hand reassuringly. Silently, she thanked him for being there. Just there. No need for words.

"So, let's dig in" she said sitting down on one of the chairs.

They spend the next two hours reading the files in the box. Nothing made sense. Skye knew that S.H.I.E.L.D. was super secretive, but this was ridiculous. There were more blanks than words. What the hell?

"I don't get it. Where's the rest?" Ward asked, pissed off.

"I don't know. I need to talk to Coulson and May. They were the ones who found out this secret about my origin. Maybe they still know something and forgot to tell me."

"Forgot, yeah, right. Let's go, babe. It's time for some answers."

"Wooh, chill tiger. They are our friends. We want to talk to them, not fight them." Skye tried to calm him. She knew he only wanted to help, but there was no reason to go after their friends.

They left their room and went to find Coulson and May. Both agents were in the mess hall talking to FitzSimmons about the new weapons.

„Oh, good, you are here" said Jemma, cheerfull to see the couple.

„Yeah, we thought you got lost on your way" Fitz teased.

„No. Listen guys, we gotta talk" started Skye. „It's about my parents" looking towards Coulson, knowing that he would get the hint.

„Let's go to my office" he said. „FitzSimmons, try to solve that problem we talked about."

Coulson left the room, followed by Ward and Skye. Skye saw that May stayed behind and asked her to join them.

Once in Coulson's office they sat down around his desk trying to figure out where to start.

„I assume you know by now, Agent Ward" Coulson broke the ice.

„Yes."

„You told him?" May asked Skye, who just nodded.

„But there is more. After I saw you today, A.C., I ran into Agent Koenig, who was just getting out of the elevator."

Silence.

„He told me that the archives were here, until twenty years ago, when Fury transferred them. Since he also ordered that a copy of every document should be stored here, I figured, it wouldn't hurt to check it out. I went down there and found a box with my birth year on and the location tag China. I grabbed the box and brought it up to my room. After I told Grant about my past he helped me go through the file."

„And?" May asked.

„Nothing, nadam niente. It's like someone wants to piss me off."

„Can I see the file?" Coulson asked.

„I'll go get it" Ward said and left the room. Not five minutes later he was back with the box putting it on Coulson's desk. Coulson picked up the file and started reading it, while May looked over the photos in the box. They seemed like surveillance photos, but she wasn't sure of what.

„Confused?" Ward asked her. „Me too. I get that those photos are surveillance, but on what?"

„Or who?" May added.

„Listen guys. I know you got stuff to do. So, let's worry about this some other time" Skye said, giving up.

„No. I will read it" said Coulson, without looking up.

„O-kay. I'll be, well, in my office. Working. Alone. By myself. Ok then. See you at dinner." Skye left the room, leaving the three agents alone.

„What do you think, Phil?" May asked.

„It's odd. We should look for more information."

„But we can leave this place!" Ward jumped in, exasperated by Coulson's calmness.

„We don't need to. Didn't you hear Skye. She got the box from the archives. And the archives are under our feet. We just need to go down there." Coulson stood up and walked towards the door. „You coming?"

May and Ward followed him to the elevator not very confident that they would find anything. Nevertheless, they all wanted to find out the truth about Skye. Not just for her peace of mind, but also for her safty. If she really had some sort of alien power people like Hydra probably knew about it. Otherwise, the massacre twentyfour years ago would be inexplicable. They needed to know, once and for all.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

They decided to check all the boxes containing Skye's birth year. Maybe some files were misplaced and ended up in the wrong box. The chances for that were low, but it was worth a try.

The three agents spend the rest of the afternoon searching for something even remotely related to Skye. But they had no luck. They returned upstairs to join the others for dinner. They found them sitting and talking about little things, nothing important or work related, waiting for them to arrive. Fitz was talking to Triplett about a prank at the Academy, while Simmons talked to Agent Koenig about the strategic value of Iwo Jima in World War Two. They were all relaxed and didn't even notice when the three agents entered the mess hall.

May and Coulson sat down, asking Ward to join them. But he was preocupied searching for Skye, who apparently wasn't there.

„Where's Skye?" he asked.

„We thought she was with you guys" Simmons answered.

„No, she had work to do. We went our separate ways hours ago" Coulson explained.

Before he even finished his sentence, Ward was already gone looking for her. He went to her office, but she wasn't there. He then ran to their room, but she wasn't there either, nor the kitchen or the gym. There weren't many places she could have been, so he got worried. Then he thought maybe she wanted to take a second look on that file, so he went to Coulson's office. But she wasn't there. He felt despair taking over him. He didn't know what to do. And then suddenly he heard the elevator and turned to see her come out of it. He ran towards her and saw that she was not only crying but terribly afraid of something. She wrapped her arms tightly around his torso and buried herself into his chest, sobbing and trembling.

„Skye, what is wrong? What happened?" Ward asked her, clearly worried about her state.

She kept on sobbing, unable to pronounce even one word. He tried to sooth her, but at the same time he really wanted to know what got her shaking like this.

„Babe, come on. Let's go to our room." She didn't move an inch, instead held him even tighter than before, like she was scared that by letting him go she would lose him. Ward knew that it wasn't wise to just stay there in the hall way. He took her in his arm, carrying her to their room, where he sat her down on the bed. The moment he sat down next to her she attached herself again to him. He wanted to help her, but was unable to do so. The only thing he could do was to hold her and try to comfort her as much as possible. He knew that at some point she would talk to him and he would be there listening.

Since neither Skye nor Ward showed up for dinner, the others started worrying about them. Triplett knocked on their door, asking if they were in there.

„Hey, yeah, we are here."

„Is everything alright? You didn't eat anything."

„Yeah, we are fine. Skye has a little headache. We will eat later. Thanks."

Triplett took the hint and left them. He told the others to not bother knocking, cause the love birds wanted to be undisturbed.

After a long time Skye finally calmed down. She felt sore from all the crying. She was afraid of looking Grant in the eyes, especially now, since her eyes were all red and swollen. But at some point she had to do that. That wasn't even the worse part. She had to explain why she was acting like a little girl, crying over some ghosts. Ghosts...that's the right way to put it. They were ghosts. She knew she had to tell him, tell the others. But how? What she saw was terrifying. It scared her to her core. She wasn't the type of person who believed in ghost stories, but...

„Are you feeling better" Ward asked her softly. She pushed herself up, trying to hide her face as best she could. Futile. Since he cupped her face and forced her to look him in the eyes. It killed him to see her this tormented and he wanted nothing more than to punch whoever was responsible for her misery. He leaned in and gave her a gentle kiss. After they parted he really wanted to know what happened.

„Come here" Ward put his arm around her, positioning her on his lap. He figured that she needed some courage to talk to him about whatever upset her and it wouldn't be easy if he fixated her. He kissed her forehead and rubbed her back.

She enjoyed his touch and was thankfull for his understanding. She needed to get over it and start talking.

„I was downstairs."

„The archives? I didn't see you there."

„No. Further down. I wanted to get to the archives, to get you all for dinner. But I pressed the wrong button and got a level or so further down. At first I thought it was an extension of the archives. But I was wrong. It was some sort of lab. I looked around for a while trying to figure out what was done down there, but everything looked so strange. Somewhere in the back was a dim light and I approached it. I swear, that whole time I felt like something was down there with me. I know, I sound crazy but I swear that's how I felt. Like something evil was there, trying to trap me. Half way through I wanted to turn around, but that light made me curious and I went on. I wish I wouldn't have. There was a door and the light came through a crack. I opened it and I saw a monster."

„A monster? Come on, babe. You are old enough to..."

„I know. I don't mean like the ones you have under your bed..."

„Or think you do."

„Do you wanna hear this or not?"

„Sorry, babe."

„It was a monster. It must have been human once, but it looked like shit. It was in a huge glass container, in some liquid and had the freakiest look in it's eyes."

„What do you mean, in it's eyes?"

„I mean that thing stared at me. It had it's eyes open. Then I heard somenthing, got scared and ran to the elevator, pressed up and ... well you know the rest. It freaked me out. I don't ever wanna see that face ever again."

„Honey, are you sure you didn't just have another nightmare?" Ward asked honestly.

„Of course not. I never saw anything like it in my entire life. It wasn't a dream. You have to believe me. I can prove it" Skye tried to explain desperately.

„I believe you, sweetie. Calm down. If this place is down there" Skye glared at him „and I'm not saying it isn't" _nice safe_ „we need to tell at least Coulson." Skye nodded in agreement.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Before they knew it they were in the elevator, together with Coulson and May, not knowing what they will find. Skye pressed herself as close as she could to Ward and he could feel her shaking uncontrollably. She knew that what she saw was real. But she couldn't blame Ward for thinking it was just another nightmare. Oh, how she wished it was. She hoped it was. That she would wake up any minute and start to forget that what she saw was just some trick of her mind. That that creature she saw, that monster, was just an interpretation of her brain for the fear she felt. And she had a lot to fear. Since Hydra was out of the shadows everything she held dear vanished every day. Thankfully she still had the team, her family, her rock. She needed to be strong. But right now she was a scared little girl afraid of the Boogie Man.

The elevator door opened and Coulson stepped outside first, followed by May. Ward wanted to follow them, but was held in place by Skye, who had a terrified look on her face. He gave her a small kiss on the lips and whispered _I won't let go_ into her ear. She somehow found a little courage to step outside the elevator.

„Where is this monster?" May asked.

„I'm sure it's not a monster, May" Coulson tried to keep things real.

„There, by that door" Skye pointed a few feet ahead of them. Both Coulson and May picked up their pace to get to the bottom of this. They reached the door within seconds and opened it. What they saw made their blood freeze.

„You were saying?" May started.

„Unbelievable" was the only thing Coulson could say.

„I'll be damned" Ward appeared behind the two senior agents, still holding Skye's hand tightly.

„Do you believe me now?" Skye asked, a little bit offended.

„Yeah, babe. I do."

„Oh my God. This is..." Coulson tried to say something, but was interrupted by Skye.

„A monster."

„I don't think it's a monster. It looks almost human."

„Come on, May. That thing is not human. Or was not human."

„No, I think May is right" Skye started, still looking the other way, not wanting to see those freaky eyes again.

„What do you mean?" Coulson asked her.

„Since I had plenty of time to read, while I was recovering, I read a lot of stuff. Both from S.H.I.E.L.D.s history text books and the internet. After World War Two, the soviets had many war prisoners, but no one was eager to get them back. So they promised them to set them free if they agreed to participate in some experiments. Of course, that was a lie. But they wanted to get out, so they agreed. There were several experiments, but one I couldn't forget. It was to aweful. They used a drug on several subjects. They deprived them from food, water, sleep. After a two days, the first results. One of them started talking to himself. The others just ignored him. Even after he started yelling. And I mean he kept yelling for hours. He actually didn't stop until he hurt he's vocal cord so much that they started bleeding. After another day or so the rest of them started to behave strangely, insane. They killed one of them and started eating him. They still weren't allowed any food or water and the drug made them forget about sleep. During day five the doctors turned down the light and didn't turn it on until day seven. As far as I can remember they were five subjects. By the time they turned the lights back on, the subjects have killed another one of them. But that wasn't all. They started looking alien, zombi-like, with huge eyes, dark pupils, white skin. They were all naked. At some point they undressed and they hurt each other. The remaining three were sedated in order for the medical personnel to get the dead bodies out of the room. But when they were in the subjects woke up and attacked the doctors. One of them was killed. Bitten in the jugular vein. Another one was bitten in the leg. They had to open fire on them to contain them. But it was like they didn't even fell the bullets. When they finally managed to take control over the subjects they doubled the dosis and brought them to the operation room. Not twenty minutes after they were sedated they woke up. The first one just hopped of the table, putting his small intestine back in, like it was the most natural thing in the world, while the other one pleaded to get more from that drug. The doctor tried to explain him that he would die without surgery, but he only wanted the drug. The doctor gave him the drug and the subject died within minutes, bleeding out."

„Oh my God, were did you read that?" Coulson asked repulsed.

„Science Magazine" Skye replied.

„That's the most disgusting thing I've ever heard" Ward said, clearly unprepared to ever hear something like that.

„And you think this what happened to him?" May asked, pointing at the thing in the container.

„Well, he looks like that subject in the picture."

„They even had a picture? Wasn't the article already disgusting?" Ward wondered.

„If what you say is true and this is a S.H.I.E.L.D. facility, then it means that S.H.I.E.L.D..."

„Phil, I don't think S.H.I.E.L.D. had anything to do with that" May said.

„What? Where are you?"

„Behind the door. Come take a look."

The others folowed May behind the door and were stunned when they saw a giant Hydra sign on the wall.

„That's impossible!" Coulson managed to say.

„Hydra? What the hell? Why would Fury lead us here?" Ward asked, without expecting an answer.

„Maybe he didn't know" Skye replied.

„Or maybe, he wanted us to find this. I think it is time to ask someone who is stationed here, about this place" May said leaving the room.

„Yeah, let's go. This place freaks me out." Skye started running after May, followed closely by Coulson and Ward, who were also a little bit, let's say impressed, by what they just saw.

May was right. If anyone could explain this, then it was Agent Koenig. Fury himself appointed him to this place. Maybe he knew about the lab, the secret Hydra lab. But what was more importantly – did Hydra know that it still existed?


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

They were all in the elevator when it hit Skye.

"Stop."

"What is it?" Coulson asked, worried by her scream.

"Go back."

"What? You just said that it freaked you out" Ward tried to nderstand what was happening.

"Go back. I need to check something."

Ward pushed the button and they descended again to the lab. Skye walked out the moment the elevator door opened. She walked extremely fast towards the room with the glass container. The others just watched her disappear behind the door and realized only minutes later that she wasn't planning on coming back. Ward ran after her and found her sitting behind a desk, on a computer.

"Babe, what are you doing?"

"Trying to find something that would explain all of these. If I'm right, this was a secret Hydra research facility. There must be some information on what they did here. If Fury knew about it and wanted us to find it, then he must have believed that it was important."

"But..."

"Give me a minute."

"What is going on?" Coulson asked.

"I don't know" Ward sincerely answered.

"Got it. Let's go."

"Got what?" Coulson asked, but got no answer. Skye was already on her way back to the elevator. The others had to run after her to catch up with her. She had already pushed the elevator button, when Coulson managed to enter.

"What the hell, babe? Were you planning on leaving us down there?"

"Huh, no. I just need to get this to a secure server. I need to decrypt the file. I need to..."

"You need to take a breath" May said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "It was a rough day. Relax and start over tomorrow."

"But..."

"May is right. Tomorrow is another day."

"But A.C..."

"Skye, they are right. Come on, let's get something to eat and watch a movie. One that you like."

"Raiders?"

"Again?"

"It's my all time favourite George Lucas film."

"Alright, but only if you promise to stop working for today."

"Alright. Let's grab a bite and start watching Raiders." The elevator stopped and the door opened. Skye left the others once again standing there walking towards the kitchen, while humming the Indiana Jones tune.

Ward rolled his eyes, while Coulson had to smile at her innocent demeanor. In spite the situation, he was happy that she was able to preserve her innocence. Ward excused himself and left the two senior agents alone in the hall way.

"Only Skye" May said, with a rare smile on her face.

"Yeah, she is indeed a sunshine in this dark place. I don't even want to imagine how she would have been if the thing with Ward wouldn't had worked out. She was in love with him for a while and I could see it was consuming her. But honestly, if he ever hurts her, I'm going to kill him."

"No, Phil. No need to get his blood on your hands. I will" May vowed.

Meanwhile, Skye plundered the kitchen. Milk, chips, hot sauce, cookies.

"What is this?" Ward asked her.

"Food."

"That's not food. That's junk food."

"Same ol'. Same ol'."

"That's no real food."

"It contains food. Junk food, food."

"Babe, that's not healthy."

"I know. But I don't wanna eat healthy. You all said I should relax. Well, this is me relaxing. Besides, you wouldn't like the alternative."

"What's the alternative?" Ward asked curiously.

"A joint" said Skye grinning.

"What?"

"Oh, come on. Don't tell me you never tried one."

"Of course not. I don't do drugs."

"Seriously? What a bore." Skye took her food and left the kitchen.

"Hang on. Let me help you." Ward took the food out of her arms and carried it to their room. Skye sat up the laptop to watch the movie, while Ward prepared the snacks. Ward sat down on the bed leaning on the wall, while Skye sat between his legs leaning her back on his firm chest. The movie started and Skye started eating cookies.

"Are you gonna eat alone or do I get some as well?" Ward teased.

"Sorry. Here, honey."

"Babe, I'm a man. Do you really think half a cookie can satisfy my hunger" Ward asked in a seductive voice. Unfortunately Skye was oblivious to him and just shoved the cookie in his mouth. He was surprised at first, but remembered how focused she got when watching movies. He had to smile. But he wouldn't just let go. He started by pressing gentle kisses on her bare shoulder. Since she knew he liked to do that all the time and she really enjoyed it, she just let him have it. But when he insisted with his assault on her neck and ear, she turned around to tell him to stop. Instead her lips were assaulted with the same fierce hunger as before. She was surprised but gave in shortly to the wonderful feeling. They made out several minutes before parting to take a breath.

"What was that?" Skye asked breathless.

"I told you, I'm a man and I need something more than just a cookie to satisfy my hunger."

"Is that so?"

"That is so."

"Ok, let me just hit pause." But Ward held her back.

"No, let it continue. I don't mind." He crushed his lips again over her mouth and started kissing her senseless. Lost to this intense emotion, Skye just let herself fall. She knew that he would catch her, that he was always there for her, no matter what. Even after he found out about her being an 0-8-4. He was still the same. He loved her. And she loved him.

Ward managed to lay her down on her back, with him hovering over her. He pressed gentle kisses to her throat, collarbone, her chest, while massaging her breasts. Skye opened her legs to make room for him between them. He settled there and started undressing her. First her shirt went off, followed by her pants. She looked absolutely gorgeous in her black lace bra and panties. He felt uncomfortable with his pants on, since his pants pressed very painfully on his erection. He got rid of his pants in a blink of an eye, followed not only by his T-shirt, but also by his boxers, offering Skye quite a strip show. He then settled back between her legs resuming his assault on her exposed skin. He kissed his way down to her panties where he stopped, taking in the sweet scent of her arousal. It was intoxicating. The more he breathed in the harder it got to restrain himself from jumping her bones. He wanted to be gentle, loving. She deserved it. Skye breathed heavy. It seemed like the temperature in the small room rose by ten degrees every minute. She enjoyed it, very much. But she felt like she couldn't take it anymore.

"Please..." she begged.

Ward grinned. He knew she was ready. He helped her to get rid of both panties and bra and kissed her long and fiercely.

"I love you, Skye."

"I love you, Grant."

He pushed his way slowely into her, way to slow for her own liking.

"Baby, please, don't play with me" she pleaded. Ward, the attentive boyfriend that he was, complied and picked up a more rapid pace, driving her over the edge several times before he came.

Ward fell next to her on the bed, exhausted from all the work out. He breathed in a couple of time before turning to wrap her in his arms. She turned her back to him, knowing that he loved to spoon her, as much as she did, but would never tell him just how much more. It gave her a sense of security and belonging, something that she just felt with him. She loved the others as well and she knew that she would always be safe around them. But being with him, like this, was even more reassuring.

"That was awesome, babe" Ward sighed happily.

"Yeah, it was. Not that I'm complaining or anything, but what was that? You were even more turned on than usual."

"I don't know. I just felt like it. And you are the hottest thing I've ever seen."

"Ehm, makes sense." They laughed and Ward pressed a gentle kiss on Skyes forehead. They fell asleep just like that before they even realized it.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

The next morning Skye woke up first, surprising even herself. She managed to get out of bed without waking Ward, which was rather difficult, since he was a light sleeper. She guessed that the work out with others and then later with her, she had to smile at that particular thought, exhausted him. She put on her clothes and shoes and left the room. She finished buttoning her shirt and walked to her office. She didn't turn on the lights, she liked it dark. She put the memory stick into her laptop and started several decryption sequences. It took a while until the job was done and Skye was able to access the files so well hidden. At some point she realized that something was odd about the encryption. She didn't recognize the language. She had to think back, call back to her memory everything she ever learned about computers, operation systems and encryptions. And then she knew. This encryption was older than just twenty something years. If this was a Hydra facility they most likely used Hydra technology and encryptions to conceal their projects and plans. She left her office running to the Bus. She had several DVD's in her bunk with information on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s history, as well as the SSR and Hydra. She took the DVD's and returned to her office to find a very worried Ward waiting for her.

"Where have you been? I woke up and you were gone."

"I'm sorry, honey. You were so tired so I let you sleep." She closed the gap between them and kissed him lightly on the lips. He pulled her closer to him and making sure she wouldn't be able to escape from his arms again.

"Grant... I... have... to... do... this..." said Skye between feverish kisses.

"I'm not letting go. You broke protocol!" Ward said sternly.

"What? What protocol?"

"Ever since we are together we have sex every morning. It's protocol. You agreed upon."

"Come on, babe."

"No. I demand that you respect at least this rule."

Skye had to smile.

"I can't leave now. I'm almost done. I promise I'll come when I'm done here."

"I'm not leaving. And we can initiate the protocol here..." said Ward seductively.

"Ward, this is my office and I..." But she was stopped mid-sentence by a passionate kiss. She knew it was futile to argue with him when he was this horny. She just gave in and hoped no one would walk in on them. Again.

Ward picked her up and sat her down on her desk never leaving her lips. Skye moaned softly when he trailed kisses down her neck, sucking lightly on her pulse point. He continued down her body but had to stop to get her out of her inconvenient shirt. Her bra followed shortly and Skye was more than ready to welcome him. He cupped her breasts and massaged them while kissing her swollen lips. Skye wrapped her legs around his waist, pressing him closer to her. He reluctantly let go of her enough to pull down her jeans and panties in one swift movement and unzipping his own. He pressed his lips over hers kissing her passionately while slipping two fingers into her wet entrance. He slipped in and out of her, at first agonizingly slow, only to pick up the pace and forcing her to come fast and hard on his hand. Skye arched her back moaning loudly. Ward loved the way she looked when she came, knowing that it was because of him. And she would always be like this because of him. He would never let her go and he would kill anyone that would ever even think of hurting her. After she relaxed a little bit he entered her in one forcefull thrust, knowing all to well that she loved his combative nature. At first he feared he would hurt her, but he soon discovered that she loved his fierce love making skills. She just enjoyed herself when he lusted after her. He started thrusting frantically full aware that anyone could walk in on them any minute. They had to finish and resume this later when alone in their room. He could only hear her whisper _harder, faster, deeper_ and before he knew it she came with a silent sigh, unable to get a sound out of her throat. He came seconds later, spilling his seed deep inside of her. They stayed like that for a while, unwilling to let go of the sweet sensation they'd just experienced together. Before he slipped out of her he kissed her gently on her lips and whispered the sweetest _I love you_ into her ear. She shuddered and kept him closer to her before letting go as well.

They got dressed quickly and she returned to her work.

"Don't you wanna eat something?" Ward asked, worried that she might skip yet another meal. With real food.

"Yeah, I'll be right there. Just let me get this done and I'll join you guys."

Ward left for the mess hall and found the others already sitting there. He just hoped they didn't hear the love making next door.

"Morning, Ward" greeted Jemma.

"Morning."

"Where is Skye? Is she still asleep?" Coulson inquisited.

"No. She had something to do in her office. She said she'll come."

"Alright."

Ward sat down next to Fitz who started babbling about some improvements on the Icer. Ward hardly listened. Jemma and Triplett talked about something Ward didn't hear, while Coulson and May drank their coffee. _Coffee_. He stood up and walked to the counter to get a cup. The others were impatient, wanting to start breakfast but waited for Skye, who apparently forgot where the kitchen was.

Ward left to look for her in her office, convinced she was still there decrypting something. But she wasn't. He started looking for her. In their room, the gym, he returned to the kitchen thinking that maybe she got there while he was gone, but no one has seen her. He felt uneasy and swore that he would tag her like a stray dog. She couldn't just do that – disappear and not telling anyone where she was.

"Where is she?" Coulson asked.

"I don't know. I left her in her office but she's gone. I went to the gym, to our room – nothing. I swear I'm gonna tag her with another tracking bracelet."

"Don't you dare" said Skye, pretending to be offended. She knew he didn't mean it like that. He was just worried. But she liked to tease.

"Where the hell were you?" Ward asked angry.

"Calm down" Skye tried to calm him.

"He is right. You can't just disappear and not telling someone about your whereabouts" Coulson said upset.

"Chill, guys. I'm fine. I went downstairs."

"The archives?" May asked.

"No, lower."

"There is nothing lower than the archives" Agent Koenig said, just entering the mess hall.

Skye turned around with a raised eyebrow. "Yes, there is."

"No there isn't."

"Yes, there is."

"No there isn't."

"YES, there is!"

"NO, there isn't!"

"Would you two just shut up" Ward yelled. "There is. I was there. So was May and Coulson."

"Could somebody please explain what is going on?" Triplett asked.

"Beneath our feet are the old archives. Twenty years ago Director Fury asked that these files should be transferred. But not before they were all copied" Coulson explained.

The other still confused just nodded.

"Yeah, but underneath the archives is a secret lab" Skye continued.

"There is not. Fury would have told me" Agent Koenig still refused to believe it.

"Dude, I was there. So were they" said Skye pointing towards Coulson, May and Ward. "Come, I'll show you." Skye wanted to leave but Coulson grabbed her wrist.

"Wait."

"Why?"

"Not now."

"Why not?"

"'Cause everyone is hungry. We all waited for you to come. So sit down eat your breakfast and then show Agent Koenig what we have found" Coulson said. The tone in his voice indicating that he wouldn't take a no for an answer. Skye complied and sat down next to Ward and started eating.

"You have to stop that" Ward started. He looked at her with a serious expression on his face.

"I'm sorry. I promise I will try not run away" Skye said smiling, hoping he would get the joke. He did, but it didn't amuse him at all.

"I'm serious, Skye. There are so many out there who want to hurt you. You little mischief came into my life like a hurricane, turning my world upside down, making me love you like I never did before. I would physically die if something would ever happen to you."

Skye was impressed. He rarely opened up like this. Especially if they weren't alone. But he said it quiet enough just for her to hear it. She leaned in and kissed him.

"I'm sorry, Grant. I should have thought about that. I know we are safe here and that's why I don't think stuff like this through. I promise from now on I will tell you wherever I go. And to prove it to you I'll start right now." She grinned and stood up. "I'm going to the bathroom."

"Really mature" Ward said smiling.

"I mean it. I have to…"

Skye left the mess hall and hurried to the bathroom. But before she could reach it she felt dizzy. She had to lean on the wall to not fall down. She took a couple of deep breaths and entered the bathroom. She washed her face with cold water to get her out of that state she was in. Ward was right. Cookies and chips aren't food. She needed to eat proper. And she needed to resume her training. The hacking and decrypting was important, but so was her training. Now more than ever.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

By the time she returned to the mess hall Coulson had briefed the others about what they have found underneath their feet. Agent Koenig seemed genuinely surprised by what he heard and still couldn't believe it.

"Let's go downstairs. I want to see this lab with my on eyes" Agent Koenig demanded.

They all prepared to get into the elevator but realized they wouldn't fit. Coulson, May, Koenig and Triplett went first, followed by Ward, FitzSimmons and Skye.

The elevator door opened and Skye could see that the others already reached the office with the glass container. She could hear the disbelief in both Triplett's as in Koenig's voices. Same thing happened to FitzSimmons. She would have at least suspected that two scientist would say something, well, scientific about that whole thing. But they were speechless.

"I don't understand. If this was Hydra, why are we here?" Fitz asked still trying to comprehend all of what he learned and saw.

"We don't know" Coulson started. "Agent Koenig, are you sure you didn't know about this?"

"Of course not. Fury just told me about the archives, but I had other things to do then run around and looking for secret enemy labs."

"Yeah, like playing Call of Duty" Triplett whispered to Jemma, but unfortunately for him the room had an extraordinary acoustic and they heard him. Agent Koenig glared at him and resumed.

"Anyway, we have to figure out what all this means."

"I know."

They all turned around to Skye.

"What? How?" May asked in disbelief.

"You know guys, it's getting old. The hint of disbelief in your voices. I decrypted the computer and I know. This was a Hydra facility for forty years, but when S.H.I.E.L.D. needed this place – they needed a Canadian base or something – Hydra had to move out. They made sure no one would find this place. They actually sealed the doors and manipulated the elevator so that no one could find this place ever. As far as I could read this facility was more than top secret even within Hydra. Only the top Hydra agents knew about it. And thanks to the entry logs Hydra is telling me exactly what was going on here. It will take some time to get through all the info, but I guess it won't be worthless. As far as I can tell this facility was build after Hydra fell. Although many Hydra scientist went to South America, like Peru, some came here. I mean, who would ever come here by choice. It's a frozen hell."

"What are you saying?" Coulson wanted some explanation.

"My guess, the same people that worked with the Red Skull and Dr. Zola came here. They wanted to make super soldiers, underneath S.H.I.E.L.D.'s nose. I think I'm going to find the original Centipede research here."

They all looked at her in wonder. She was right. They just had to stop being so befuddled every time she said something, that turned out right. Even FitzSimmons had to admit it – she was a genius. She saw things in a complete different light than the rest of them.

"How can we help?" Coulson asked a moment later.

"By reading the research. It's a lot. I can do it all by myself."

"Alright. Let's go back up and everyone starts reading" Coulson commanded. They left the lab and for the next days they were all lost in the reading process. The only one who seemed to be moving around was Skye. Between monitoring Hydra, decrypting more files and working on her program she was the only one who ran around.

At the end of the fourth day the team gathered in the mess hall trying to put together everything they read.

"As far as I can tell, Skye was right. They tried a series of experiments on human subjects to increase power, agility. Even making their skin bullet proof" Jemma started. "Obviously something went wrong. The super soldiers we have encountered were different. Thanks to Mike Peterson we had the opportunity to study the process and it is improved from the one here."

"So they worked out the flaw in their research?" May asked.

"Yes and no. You see they had to rethink it. But every time they tried it out something went wrong. I don't understand everything they did, but my guess at some point Mike Peterson will shut down."

"But he is human, not a computer" Ward interjected.

"Actually, he is more machine than man" Skye said. She put her laptop on the counter so that everyone could see. "This image is from the race track. Where you found Nash. They modified him. He is more machine than man and what I know about machines, computers, they will eventually shut down. Because every system is flawed. The more stuff they put in him, equipment and weapons the more they weaken him, making him vulnerable. I haven't found it yet, the flaw, but it is there. I'm sure."

"Ok. One question. How does this" Agent Koenig pointed to the Hydra research "help us fight them."

"We need to understand them. Coulson told me to read the files on the potential Clairvoyants before all hell broke loose. Ward told me, after he killed Nash, that the supposed Clairvoyant knew how to push all the right buttons. And it hit me. And Coulson. The Clairvoyant wasn't some superpower freak, he was an agent, with a high level clearance" Skye explained.

"I still don't get how this is going to…"

"Dude, what the hell. You want me to draw a freaking picture" Skye snapped, surprising everyone. "We need to know our enemy. Even though Garrett is just one agent, eventually they all work to gain the same thing. They all have the same goal. We figure that out and we can trace it back to each individual."

"Oh, I get it. Like running back the blast of an explosion until we get it's origin point" Fitz said excited.

"Precisely."

They all just let out a small _uh uhm_ and waited for Skye to say something.

"What about you, Skye? You have been running around these past few days like you were on fire" Simmons asked her.

"I did stuff. For instance I figured out how Hydra wanted and could have controlled the world using the Helicarriers."

"And?" May asked impatiently.

"An algorithm." Silence.

"Come on, babe. Do you wanna kill us with suspense?" Ward asked exasperated.

"Just a little" she said smiling, but became serious when she resumed. "Dr. Zola, Schmid's chief scientist, wrote an algorithm so evil, that it is absolutely genius."

"Care to explain?" Koenig asked.

"The algorithm predicts the future. Not fortune cookie or gypsy fortuneteller like. It predicts behavior using a series of variables that will determine if the person might become a potential threat to Hydra. I found the _blueprints_ of the algorithm deep embedded in the files and couldn't understand them at first, but then it became clearer. I had a hunch and was able to contact Agent Romanoff and she confirmed it."

"Hang on. Stop. Rewind. You contacted who?" Koenig asked in disbelief.

"Agent Romanoff."

"How? She is off the grid. She and the Captain…"

"Have a super secret mission. I know. She told me. But she confirmed."

"How exactly were you able to contact her?" Coulson wanted to know.

"She gave me an emergency phone number."

"When?"

"A while ago. Before I got shot."

"Skye, could you please answer properly" Coulson said warningly, tired of Skye's evasive answers.

"Alright. The first time we went to the Hub, before Fitz and Ward had to go on that suicide mission and Jemma shot Sitwell and you were all pissed 'cause I hacked S.H.I.E.L.D. again. After you yelled at me for a while you left for operations. Think is. You weren't the only one to yell at me that day. While you thought I was on the Bus being all pissed at you I actually had the pleasure to be yelled at by none other than Director Fury. After he was done with his lecture he said that he wants me."

"What did you say?" May asked.

"That he is not my type. Too grumpy."

"Skye…" Coulson warned.

"Ok, ok. But I did say that. At this point Nat came out of the shadow."

"Nat, as in Natasha Romanoff?" Ward asked her, impressed that she got to call the Black Widow by her first name. No one dared that.

"Yeah, she's actually a great person. Once you get to know her. Or don't lie unconscious on the floor after she threw you against a wall. Anyway, Fury told me about his suspicions. About an unseen enemy."

"Why would Fury trust you. You were a member of the Rising Tide" Agent Koenig asked, still perplexed by what he heard.

"Because he called me by my hacker name. Do you remember when I said that the best hacker is the one unseen. Well my hacker name is _Shadow_" Skye whispered the last part.

"NO WAY" FitzSimmons shouted.

"Can somebody explain?" Coulson asked.

"You? You are Shadow?" Agent Koenig asked a little louder than he intended.

"Hello, someone. The rest of us still don't know what this means" Triplett tried to get an answer.

"Shadow is the best hacker in the world" Fitz started.

"We gathered that" Coulson said sarcastically.

"Yeah, but Shadow was the one who actually made Fury aware of the flaw in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s system" Agent Koenig explained further, seeing Skye in a new light.

"When you found me in that alley, I wanted to join S.H.I.E.L.D. to find my parents. But you all grew on me. And after that Miles incident you still trusted me. And I just knew I could trust you. I wanted to tell you about me. That I'm Shadow, but it was dangerous. Especially after you made me put that bracelet on. I tried to protect you as best as I could. But from not wanting to lose my family" she looked at Ward and Fitz and they understood, "I was careless and got caught. But it was a good thing, because Fury gave me access to the system. Ever since I've been working on a program to protect you all. So when you came Coulson and told me that something was wrong with the system, that I should take a look I wanted to tell you that you were right. But Fury made me swear to keep my mouth shut. Fortunately, you started to ignore certain orders and made it easier for me to give you the information I wanted you to know. And then Hydra happened. Fury last order was to continue. And that's what I'm doing. I promise you Coulson, this is the truth."

"Fury told me you were a risk, after Peru."

"And I was. Especially after the truth behind me joining S.H.I.E.L.D. came out. But you trusted me. And I swore that wherever you lead, I will follow. Because you were the first person to really trust me. And I will always thank you for that. So everything I hid from you was to protect you. All of you. Ah, one more thing. Since we are so honest with each other there are a few more things. I've been an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. ever since Ward's and Fitz's mission. Level six. I know. How? I could have actually be a level 10, because I knew even more than Fury" she grinned, but stopped soon after she saw their faces "Anyway, I needed to be, in order to gain access to certain files. To put up the firewalls and all the other protections. What else? Oh, I know the Avengers. All of them. Including Thor. Remember when I asked for a little me time in L.A. before you got abducted? Well that's when Fury introduced me. Kept in contact with all of them ever since. Keeping them posted. What else? I didn't know about China before you told me. I wanted to look for information on my parents but I couldn't risk to expose myself. Besides, you promised me already that you would take care of it and I trust you. And I found out what my super power is. Or to be more exact, are."


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

They were speechless. So much information at once. Skye looked around trying to figure out what might come next, now that she decided to come out of the shadows. Pun intended.

"O-kay. I see you all decided to take a vow of silence. Since I've got stuff to do I'm just gonna get back to my office."

"Wait" Coulson stopped her.

"Yes?"

"What is your power?"

"Powers, actually. Do you remember Hannah and Tobias?"

They all nodded, still confused. Except for Koenig and Triplett, who looked a little left out. Jemma promised to tell them later.

"Back then we thought that Hannah had some super power due to that blast. When in fact Tobias slipped from one world to the other. You all said there is no one with telekinetic abilities. Well, you're wrong." Skye signaled them to turn around. Behind them were three chairs floating. Fitz approached the chairs and waved his hand above them and under them to ensure that there weren't any strings. When he couldn't find any he turned to face Skye.

"How?"

"I don't know. One day, we were on the Bus, before the Hub incident, I woke up and my iPod was floating above my head. When I realized it it just fell down on my face. Since then I tried to figure out how I was doing it. I didn't tell you guys, because I was scared. Scared that S.H.I.E.L.D. might lock me up or something. I tried to do it again but it wouldn't work. Until, Ward said during a training session that I had to concentrate on what I was doing. I was so focused on punching him, that I neglected to watch his feet, who always managed to kick me and making me fall down. After the training session was over I went to take a shower and tried to concentrate on the soap. But nothing happened. Only after it slipped out of my grip and fell near the door I hoped or better yet visualized it coming back to me. And it did. So know I knew. Henceforth I've been practicing."

The group listend to her in awe. If they wouldn't have seen it with their own eyes they wouldn't have believed it.

"You said powers. This was one" May pointed out.

"I'm both a telepath and an empath. I realized this while talking to Fury. He was angry with me for hacking S.H.I.E.L.D. so at some point his thoughts were louder than his voice. Anyway, he figured I needed the training so he called Natasha. He wanted to know if I was able to do that with her. I did. But it was hard. She is one tough fighter."

"During your _you time _did you by any chance train these abilities?" Coulson asked.

"Yes. All of them. But I wasn't really aware of how powerful they are until I died. I mean almost died. Well, I actually did die several times, until Jemma managed to bring me back. Afterwards, when we are at the base I left for an hour and you were pissed that I just left without telling. Fury called me. He said somebody wanted to meet me. My father."

"What? Your father?" Coulson almost shouted.

"Yeah, it seems like my father kept an eye on me all this years."

"Why didn't he come for you?" Ward asked, not understanding how a father, Skyes father, just watched, never being really there for her. He was used to things like that from his own family. But Skye. She was the embodied goodness.

"He actually kept me safe. As well as S.H.I.E.L.D."

"Stop. I don't understand. Is your father an agent?" May wanted to know.

"No. He is..." Skye turned her back to the group, not knowing how this piece of information might affect her relationship with the team.

"Skye?" Ward touched her shoulder, callig her out of the trance she slipped in. She turned to face him and saw his worried face.

"I assure you, I never read your mind. On purpose. Before the shooting I could only hear your thoughts, when you were angry or excited. But it was never clear. It always sounded far away. And I forced myself to not hear you. I love you all and I know I would feel betrayed if any of you would ghost around my mind. But after Quinn shot me I couldn't control it. I heard your concern, I felt your love for me, your desperation to find a cure, your helplessness. It broke my heart. I wanted to tell you I was fine. That it wasn't so bad. On the other side. But I couldn't. And then..." she turned to look Ward in the eyes "I heard you. You asked wathever diety to spare my life. That you loved me. That you would do anything to keep me safe. This is the real reason why I trusted you, even when the whole Hydra thing came out. I can't explain it, why me. Why I have this powers. He explained, but I still don't understand half of it."

"Who explained?" Coulson wanted to know.

"Odin. The all father. _My father_" the last part barely a whisper.

Silence. That was something no one had imagined, not in their wildest dreams.

"Shut up!" shouted Koenig, visibly impressed. "I didn't think much of you before. But now, I'm a fan."

"Hold on. How do you know?" May asked what everyone wanted to know.

"I already told you. Fury asked me to a meet him secretly. Under the base is a secret chamber that I used sometimes when we weren't on missions. There I could enter S.H.I.E.L.D.'s system without restrictions. After I recovered, during the Lorelei episode, Fury asked me to meet him under the base. Since everyone was so focused on the mission, I slipped out of the Bus. Fury greeted me and I could see Thor. I ran towards him to give a hug and saw that someone else was there with us. Long story short, Odin came to Earth, disguised, for a little time out from ruling Asgard. He fell in love with my very much human mother and well... I happened. When time came and I was about to be born Odin couldn't come to Earth and my mother had to do it all alone. She..." a single tear rolled down her cheek and Ward protectively pulled her into a hug "died. At that moment I couldn't control my powers, So, I became a target for people like Hydra. S.H.I.E.L.D. kept me save, but my 0-8-4 status made it difficult. Odin kept a close watch on me. And next time I had an episode, showing of my powers, Odin came to Earth to lock my powers, until I was ready."

She stopped talking. Unable to look to the others she buried her face in Ward's chest. He rubbed her back soothingly and kissed the top of her head.

The others just stood there not knowing what to say to her story.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

"This is amazing" Triplett said, breaking the silence.

"If Odin is your father and he is asgardian... then you are..." Coulson started.

"Asgardian" May finished.

"Half, actually. My mother was human." Skye corrected, her voice low.

"What is wrong, sweetheart?" Ward asked her, whisering in her ear.

"I'm a freak."

"No, you are not. You are the most wonderfull person I have ever met. You are kind and loving, you always find the little bit of goodness that is well hidden in a person. You don't judge, you understand a person. If anyone is a freak than I am. Or Coulson or May or anyone of the others. You are the sunshine that keeps us going." Skye looked up at him and smiled.

"We all love you. _I love you_ no matter what." He leaned down and kissed her gently on the lips, forgetting for a moment that they weren't alone.

Coulson cleared his throat and they parted. Skye felt her cheeks burning, but looked up at A.C.

"Ward is right. You are not a freak. You are an amazing being. You came as a light in our lives. At least in mine." Coulson approached her and pulled her into a fatherly hug. Skye couldn't help herself but smile.

"What is it?" Coulson asked, after releasing her.

"You said _sunshine _and _light._"

"So?"

"That's how they called me. Thor and Odin. It's funny that you would use the same words."

"Oh, guys. Who cares?" Jemma interjected. "We love you Skye and no one cares that you are an 0-8-4 or an Asgardian. We just love you. So let's drop this already." The scientist walked to the hacker and pulled her into a tight embrace, montioning Fitz to follow her lead and soon the entire team was involved in an emotional group hug.

"Ok, ok. Stop it. We have work to do." Skye tried to get out of their embrace, but failed.

"Too late, honey. You are not going anywhere" Ward said.

"Come on. I need to check on my Black Hole."

"For God's sake. Baby girl, you're killing me. And here I was thinking that S.H.I.E.L.D. had secrets" Triplett said.

The others just laughed.

Skye left the room, followed by Ward. She got into her office and sat down in front of her computer.

"So, what do you think? Really?" Skye asked Ward.

"About?"

"What I just told you all. All the secrets I had to keep. All the stuff about my origin?"

"Nothing. I already told you. I mean it. I love you. I don't care. We all have secrets. But you did help us from day one. So, there's nothing more to say. Although, I would like to meet Thor..." Ward smirked.

"Yeah, about that. We should wait."

"Why?"

"Well, even tough my father and brother weren't around they still kept an eye on me. And they kinda saw how you...well...worked for the enemy. And they kind of hate your guts... since you worked for Garrett who ordered Quinn to shoot me." Ward had to swallow hard. She had a point. But he didn't know that Garrett ordered that, until it already happened. And he changed. She changed him. He wanted to be a better man. For her.

"Don't worry. I'll fix it. I promise." She pulled him down to her and kissed him. "And now, leave."

"You're kicking me out?" Ward asked playing offended.

"I need to work. And you are a distraction. So, go away." She gave him one last kiss and shoved him out. She really needed to finish her little project.

Skye spend hours working on her program. She was so focused that she completely forgot the time. It was passed 10 pm when Ward knocked on her door. When she didn't answer he opened the door to find her frantically typing on her keypad. She was oblivious to his presence. She didn't even hear him when he called her.

"What's going on?" Coulson asked behind him.

"She seems far away. I called her, but she doesn't answer" Ward responded.

"Maybe she is an asgardian trance" Fitz speculated.

"Or maybe she has the ability to transfer her consciousness into the computer" Jemma suggested.

"Or maybe she tries to ignore the noise made by her friends in order to finish the sequence she is currently writing, so that she could finally get something to eat. 'Cause she is starving!" Skye bellowed. "Finally, I'm done." She stood up and went to the mess hall. The others looked after her in surprise but followed her shortly. By the time they all got there Skye was already devouring her dinner.

"Sweetheart, relax. Don't eat so fast, you're going to choke" Ward tried to make her eat at a normal pace. She just ignored him and continued.

„Damn, she looks like a wild animal that starved for days" Triplett whispered to Fitz, who was nearest to him.

"Skye, stop. No one will take it away" Jemma tried to calm her.

"I...can't...so...hungry" said Skye between bites. "Fells...like...I...haven't...eaten...in...days."

"That is still no reason to eat so fast. You will get sick." May got close to her and grabbed the plate under Skye's nose, pulling it away.

"Hey, that's mine" Skye looked at her angry.

"You will get it back if you promise to actually eat, not just swallow it" May said, a silent warning in her voice.

"Alright. Just give it back."

The others sat down and ate as well. By the time Skye finished the others talked about little things that happened to them during the day. She wanted to stand up and leave but Ward held her by her wrist.

"Where are you going?"

"To my office. I have to run a test drive."

"Now? Can't it wait?"

"No. I need to go online with the program ASAP."

"What program?" Coulson asked.

"The Black Hole."

"Could yu be more specific?"

"Sure." She turned around and left.

"Hey, babe. You were trying to explain something. Where are you going?" Ward shouted after her.

"My office. Let me check it and when you are all done come to my office."

"Unbelieveable" Coulson sighed, but had to smile.

"Let's wrap this up here and find out what that Black Hole is" May told the others, already standing close to the door. The others followed shortly.

The group entered Skye's small office, adjusting to the darkness in the room.

"Welcome, ladies and gentleman" Skye started. "You will be the first ever to see a cyber black hole in action. Before I will initialize the process I will have to brief you about something that Director Fury himself asked me to do before..." she stopped, unable to say that particular thought out loud. "Please, take a seat, all of you. It will take some time."

Everyone looked for a place to sit and when they were all settled Skye resumed.

"As you know, I've been working in secret with Fury and the Avengers. Each one had a difficult, but vital task. Mine was to keep track of all the missions and find the flaw in the system. I got almost daily updates from the Avengers, as well as Fury and Commander Hill. Before the incident at the Triskelion, Romanoff and the Captain discovered a secret lab. I will spare you the details of their ordeal and fast forward to the part where they discovered that the scientiests managed to upload Dr. Zola into a computer. Actually just his conscious mind. Feeling on the winning side Zola told them about the algorithm that Helicarriers would use to eliminate enemy threats. Thanks to Nat, who downloaded most of the algorithm, I was able to study it and replicate it. But unlike Zola, I am a genius when it come to computers. I rewrote S.H.I.E.L.D.'s system. Right now I'm monitoring live every movement of every agent. Both S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra. And I upgraded it. Every time someone gets in contact with an agent that person will be searched and tagged and henceforth monitored. Which means, at some point I will monitor every one. In the world."

Fitz raised his hand, signaling that he had at least one question. Skye just waved it off, telling them that she would answer any questions after she finished.

"You probably realize that this program could be very dangerous. In the wrong hands. But I took the necessary precautions to keep everyone save. To explain that, let's take a little fantasy journey into space. The program is designed like a living organism. It grows by feeding on information. The more information it absorbs the more complex the program becomes. I designed an algorithm within the program to calculate an enormous number of variables, but I still need to check on it every once in a while. A program like that can be very vulnerable. So I created several layers of protection. Along with the usual anti-spyware programs you find on you every day computer I created additional shield programs, pun intended. One of them is the Sun. Imagine you are in space. You shuttle is damaged and an enemy vessel is nearby. You can't escape, because your engines don't work at full power. You are also unable to fight the enemy since your shield is down and your weapons are low on energy. The only thing you can do is hide and wait for your enemy to leave the area. Hide – alright. But where? The sun. It is enormous. You can easily hide behind it. Your enemy is blinded by the brightness and it can come near it, since it's very hot. With me so far?"

They all nodded, but were actually confused.

"The Sun program I designed is like a sun. I hid the surveillance program behind a sun. If a virus or hacker ever manages to get this close the Sun will literally fry the hard drive of the attacker. But it won't come to this. The Sun also works like a mirage. So even if someone knows about the program, the exact location of it, the hacker or virus would still be decieved. It will think that the program is spam or some ad from some stupid advertising site. But trust me. No will ever get this close. For that I desogned the Black Hole. I've already explained to you what a Black Hole is – in space at least. The Black Hole program is designed to attract enemy threats to it's vicinity where it will suck the enemy in. That means, if a hacker tries to hack my system the Black Hole will suck him in. Once in the Black Hole the program will shoot millions of viruses into the hackers system, disabling it and shuting it down. If the hacker's computer is connected to a network, the network will be also disabled. And that's not all. Once the hacker is trapped in the virtual Black Hole the program will spy the hackers system. Which means it will copy every data on that enemy computer, analyse it and put in into the surveillance program. This will allow the program to extend it's surveillance on every other computer that was ever connected to the main source. And if that didn't impress you... the Black Hole is able to pin point the exact GPS location of the computer."


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Fitz raised his hand again. Skye motioned for him to ask his question.

"So, if I understood you right, you created three types of programs. One for surveillance, one that keeps the first hidden and a third one that is basically a trap."

"Yep" said Skye popping the p.

"That's absolutely genius" FitzSimmons said in excitement.

"And now for the less genius among us" Triplett started.

"Basically, I run surveillance on everyone, but keep the collected info hidden and protected. The Triade, that's how I call the three programs, is impossible to be hacked. Even if I would be unable to check on it daily it would still run efficiently for days. It is one of my most brilliant ideas, actually..."

Skye was interrupted by a ringing. It was Ward's phone. The one he had from Garrett.

"It's him" Ward said, not knowing what to do. He hadn't spoken to his former SO and mentor in almost two weeks. Garrett told him to seduce Skye but he never really gave him a deadline. What if he wanted Ward to bring her in? The sole thought of taking Skye to Hydra made Ward's blood boil.

"You have to answer." Skye touched his arm reassuringly. She motioned the others to leave the room and they did as asked.

"You can do it" she said softly and wanted to leave as well.

"No, wait. You too, Coulson."

Both stayed behind with Ward. He answered his phone and heard Garrett's voice an the other end.

"Son, good to hear you. I was worried that you might have lost your way" Garrett said laughing.

"No. I'm still deep undercover. They don't suspect anything."

"Forget that. I need you to come back. We need to leave this place, regroup. I need you to come back."

"But, Sir. What about my mission?"

"You need to wrap it up. You either bring the girl or kill her." Ward was already fighting the urge to tell Garrett to go to hell, but to ask him to kill the woman he loved. He had a murderous look on his face. Skye approached him and tried to calm him by rubbing his back, the same way he always did. She motioned him to keep talking to Garrett and agree with him. While continuing his conversation with his former mentor, Ward kept Skye close to his chest, unwilling to let her go when she tried to pull away. She gave up fighting him on this and just wrapped her arms around his waist. After he finally hung up he kept her even closer to his chest than before, trying to forget Garrett's words.

"That bastard!" Ward said, threatening to kill Garrett.

"Calm down, he's not worth it" Skye tried to calm him.

"You didn't hear what he said" he managed to say, teeth grinding.

"What exactly did he say?" Coulson asked.

"He wants me to bring him Skye. And if she refuses I'm ordered to kill her." Ward kept silent after the last sentence. Unable to think straight.

"Grant, it's alright."

"No, it's not. I'll kill anyone that even thinks of hurting you. I will..."

"You will do exactly what Garrett wants you to do" Skye said calmly.

"What?" both men asked, stunned by her statement and calm demeanor.

"You will bring me to him."

"No. I won't put you in danger."

"You won't. You seem to forget that I'm not a helpless child. I have powers now. Powers he is unaware of. Besides, you will be there protecting me. And I will be able to fight the enemy from the inside."

"Skye, it's to risky. You can't..." Coulson tried to argue with her, but both Ward and Coulson knew that it was futile to even try, especially once she had made up her mind.

„What is your game?" Coulson asked after a minute of silence.

"Even though the Triade works we need to be a step ahead of them. I need to get in to understand how they think. To be able to anticipate their strategies" Skye explained calmly. "Remember when you told me that I know how people tick? Well, let me do just that. There has to be a reason why Garrett became who he is now, why he joined Hydra, why he..." Skye stopped, not knowing how to continue.

"Why he chose me to be his pet project" Ward said. Skye stood on her tip toes and pressed a kiss on his jawline.

"I know you two are worried, but it'll work. I promise."

"And how exactly are you planning to fool Garrett?" Coulson asked, hoping to find a way to discourage her.

"We will have to move quickly. We will say that Coulson overheard your conversation with Garrett, which technically is the truth. After an argument you were forced to admit your Hydra. Me, being so helplessly in love with you, couldn't accept this fact. So I start a fight with May. Which obviously I will loose. By the way, she will have to punch me a couple of times to make it believeable. We will say that May sustained that I was Hydra too, since I am involved with you. The only person not willing to accept this is Coulson of course. But since you are forced to leave you will take me with you. You manage to dissarm Trip, shoot a couple of rounds, enough to create a diversion. I run to the hangar and we take one of the planes and flee the place. Obviously, I'm devasted by the fact that my boyfriend is Hydra, my surrogat family hates me and the father figure I adore didn't stand up for me when the evil Agent Melinda May accused me."

The two men listened to her. They tried to find something to discourage her, but she explained so believeable that they didn't even dare.

"It'll work. You will be there to protect me and I will watch them closely. Before we leave I will get all the info I need to work from the other side" Skye said the last part in a dramatic voice "and I will also inform the Avengers. They need to know. Besides, I gotta talk to Tony about the Wire."

"The wire?" both Ward and Coulson asked in unison.

"Uhm, yeah. It's a program I designed together with him. It's sort of a chat, but highly encoded. I need him to run diagnostics and then launch it. I will download a special created app to all your phones, as well on the Bus and my computer here. Since I won't be able to take my laptop, leaving in a hurry and all, I will need you to persuade Garrett to give me one. But after a few days. After I grieve my loss and accept the New World Order."

"Skye, it won't work. Garrett isn't stupid" Ward tried to talk her out.

"Yes, it will. Listen. You'll have to go. If you don't he will know you betrayed him and you yourself will become a target. We need to do this. And better together than alone."

„There's no way to convince you not to do this, is there?" Ward asked, his voice full of concern, but also pride that she was so courageous. He kissed the top of her head and held her close to him.

"I don't like this" Coulson finally said.

"I have to agree. It's too risky. I know Garrett. The moment he will figure it all out he will kill us" Ward pleaded with her.

"He won't. And I need to know, Grant. We know he is the Clairvoyant. Why? Why all that scheme?"

"There is something you don't know about him. About 17 years ago Garrett was on a mission. A mission like the one in Ossetia" Ward looked at Coulson and he understood.

"With no extraction" Skye finished. Ward only nodded.

"He was badly injured and almost died. But Hydra got to him. They have been monitoring him for years and waited for an oportunity."

"An oportunity to do what?" Coulson asked.

"To start their secret project... Centipede. Garrett was Patient Zero. He is dying ever since. Everything they've researched all this years was not only to make super soldiers but to save him. For a long time I wanted him to live. He saved me when I was a teen and I was grateful. Until he..." Ward paused, unable to even think. He swallowed hard and continued "until he ordered Quinn to shoot you. I only found out about him being the Clairvoyant, after you told me at the Hub. I thought he worked for him not that it was him. I honestly believed that Nash had something to do with that whole Centipede project, that they tried to heal him and help Garrett in the process. I confronted Garrett about you being shot and he just dismissed me, like it was nothing. He said that you were a weakness, that you were a problem long before you joined Coulson's team, when you hacked your way around and uncovered Centipede." Ward hoped that with this revelation she would back down, but he feared that it would only fuel her desire to take down Hydra and Garrett even more.

"Grant, do you love me?" Skye asked calmly.

"Of course I love you" answered Ward in one breath.

"Do you trust me?" Skye placed a hand on his cheek and he could only lean into her touch.

"With my life."

"Then let me do this. It's the only way."

"But..." he started but was cut off by her lips. It was a soft, loving kiss, filled with emotion and a promise of a brighter future. When they parted Ward looked into her eyes and knew that he lost the battle. And that he would loose probably every other battle against her. She had him wrapped around her little finger, but somehow he didn't mind.

"Come on, we need to get going. Let me just finish here and you two go brief the others."

She might have said it as request but somehow both Ward and Coulson felt it was more an order. Altough Skye didn't have any authority to give orders. The two men left her and went into the mess hall to gather the rest of their team.

Skye picked up her encrypted phone and called Tony Stark. The phone rang a couple of times before she heard the familiar voice of Tony Stark.

"Sunshine, how are you?" asked Tony extremely cheerful.

"Hi, Tony. Listen I don't have much time..." Skye explained their current situation and decided how to proceed next.

"Make sure to come back safe and sound, Angel" Tony told her, in a serious voice.

"I will. Besides, my boyfriend will keep me save."

"No shit. You? You have a boyfriend? Do I know him?"

"I don't think so. It's Agent Ward."

"What? Isn't he Hydra?"

"No. He switched."

"Does your brother know?"

"That Ward switched sides? I don't think so."

"I meant that he is your boyfriend?"

"Uhm, no. not yet. And I would appreciate it if you let me tell him."

They finished their talk and Skye left her office to find the others in the mess hall. When she entered she could see the worried faces of FitzSimmons and Trip. Even May looked concerned about this mission but made sure not to show it the way the younger agents did.

"Before any of you start to give me reasons why I souldn't do this, I'll stop you here. It's the only way. Ward will protect me. I have my powers. And everything is set in motion."

Jemma wanted to open her mouth to say something but was stopped by Coulson who just gestured her to keep silent.

"I just talked to Stark. He and I put up a program to keep in touch. We call it the Wire. I downloaded a special created app on your phones, Tony did the say with the Avengers. After Ward and I get to Hydra we will try to get a laptop from Garrett. Once I have one I will scrub it clean. Yea, Grant, before you say it. Garrett is supposed to find out about that. He would suspect me if I would act unlike myself. After that I will access the new S.H.I.E.L.D. satellite and set up our defense. Don't worry, I know what I'm doing. And now, Agent May would you please hit me?"

Everyone was looking from Skye to May and back not knowing what to think.

"You want me to do what?" May asked calmly, as if Skye asked her to pass the orange juice.

"To hit me, punch me. I need a few bruises to look like shit when we arrive. Didn't Ward and Coulson tell you about the plan?"

"Yeah, they did, but..."

"No but... Come on May, please..." Before Skye could finish May hit her twice. Once in the face, near her eye and once in the stomach, making her fall down and curl up into a ball.

"May, what the hell?" Ward yelled and knelt down.

"It's ok, Grant. I asked her to. Didn't I?" said Skye, her voice weak. "And now him" Skye motioned towards Ward. May hit him a couple of times before stopping her assault.

"Perfect" said Skye looking over her bruised boyfriend.

"How come I get the crap beaten out of me and you get hit only twice?"

"Because you are the specialist and I'm just a rookie, who got knocked out a little. Come on let's go."

All of them left the mess hall and walked to the hangar. Before Skye and Ward took off, the team hugged them and encouraged them. Ward grabbed Skye's hand and got into the plane.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

„Are you alright?" Ward asked, concerned with her black eye.

„I'm fine. I just miss them."

„You do know that we will be gone for a while?"

„Yeah, but that doesn't mean that I won't miss them."

„I'll be there."

„I know. And I'm thankful. I don't think I could have done this without you."

„You could have. You have your powers now and..."

„I didn't mean that. I meant, we are gone for like three hours and I miss them already. They are my family. And I love them."

„I understand" said Ward, turning away from her.

„You don't. They are my family and I miss them terribly. But if I would have had to leave you behind I couldn't have gone further than the hangar. I love you so much." Skye stood up and placed herself on Ward's lap. He pressed the autopilot button and wrapped his arms around her, holding her close.

„I love you too. I don't know what you did, but I have to tell you Agent Skye, you are stuck with me forever." He gave her a smile and kissed her gently on the lips. „You are my light in the darkness and I will do everything to protect you, even if..."

„NO. Don't say that. I won't let you." Skye pressed a firm kiss on his lips and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck. After several minutes of frantic kissing Ward had to break free to breath again.

„You know, for someone who doesn't want me dead you sure keep my breath away."

„Was that a joke? You seriously joked?"

„I can joke. The Grant Ward you met all these months ago had to be an asshole."

„You weren't. And I like this Grant Ward better." She kissed him on the tip of his nose and freed herself from his embrace.

„Where are you going?"

„To take a nap." Skye approached the door and turned around. „You are welcome to join me."

Hearing that he jumped off his seat and followed her quickly.

After two hours of „napping" they still continued their love making. Thinking that it might be the last time in a while where they could be this carefree they decided to enjoy their time together as long as they possibly could. It was close to five hours since they left the base and the team behind, when Ward's phone rang.

„Sir, I tried to reach you.

„I know. We had to prepare for a mission. Where are you? Still with Coulson?"

„No, sir. I left. He overheard our conversation. He had a surveillance camera installed in my room. I barely got out. I almost didn't make it, if it wasn't for Skye."

„So, the girl is with you?"

„Yes, sir."

„Good."

„Sir?"

„Yes, son?"

„About Skye. What do you want from her?"

„I told you. We could use someone with her skills."

„Is that all?"

„Ward?"

„You know how I feel about her."

„Don't worry. You can have her, as long as she becomes one of us. By the way, how did you convince her to join?"

„It was in the heat of the moment..."

„Ward, you old dog."

„I didn't mean it like that."

„How?"

„After Coulson found out about me Skye tried to defend me, but things got out of hand. We had a little let's call it misunderstanding with May and Triplett. After May accused Skye of being Hydra as well we had to flee. I couldn't leave her there. And she came out of her own free will. She is still shaken because of Hydra and me being part of it. But between her love for me and the rejection from the team, she hasn't got any choice but to come along. She will understand that we are working for the greater good."

„Alright. When will you arrive?"

„In about two hours maybe more. We have to fly low to be undetected by radar."

„Good. Use the safe house outside Havana. Stay there for a couple of days until I come for the two of you."

„Sir?"

„We had a little accident with one of our projects and need to clean up the mess."

„Understood. Shall I call you?"

„No. I will call you before I come pick you up. See you in a couple of days, son."

Garrett hung up and Ward just looked at the woman still lying underneath him, barely covered by the extra blanket.

„So?"

„I think he bought it. You up for it?"

„I have to. There's no turning back now."

„We should eat something. Come on."

Ward put one his boxers stood up. The plane had some basic supplies, nothing fancy. He found some protein bars and a few water bottles. He brought them to Skye and she took them while smiling.

„It's not much..."

„It's perfect. It's like a picknick. But without the ants. And you are here. What more could I want?"

„Your family."

Skye leaned in and kissed him.

„You are my family as much as they are. Maybe even a little more." Ward wrapped his arms around her and placed her on his lap strocking her hair and kissing her temple.

„One day this will be over. I promise. You will have your family and you will be safe."

„And you will be with me. Don't you even dare thinking of an alternative."

„I told you already. You are stuck with me."

„That's right. And I won't ever let you go." Skye snuggled herself more into him and started tracing circles on his chest.

„Skye?"

„Yes?"

„Promise me you will not try to provoke him. He is very dangerous."

„I promise. Grant?"

„Yes?"

„You should continue training me. I mean I need to be able to protect myself."

„I will protect you."

„I mean it. What if he asks you to go on a mission and I stay behind. I need to be able to do this. Please. Wouldn't you feel so much better knowing that I can kick ass?"

„Alright. I will. We just need to make sure he will let me. I'm in his good graces right now. We don't want that to change. Come on. Let's get dressed. We will arrive soon."

„Is he picking us up?"

„No. He told me to use one of the safe houses for a couple of days. Apparently something happened at the base and they need to clean it up. Which means I have you just for myself for another few days." He helped her up and looked at her now exposed body from head to toe.

„Beautiful" he whispered.

„You are not so bad yourself. Altough some of you is covered" Skye said grinning.

„Ok. Let's get dressed. We're gonna land soon."

They both dressed and Ward returned to the cockpit, while Skye cleaned up. After she was done Skye joined Ward in the cockpit and buckled up, since the plane started it's descent.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

The drive to Ward's safe house took them about 30 minutes. Before they reached their destination however Ward stopped at a local market to buy the necessary supplies – food and water, as well as a few clothing items for both of them. He even bought some promising underwear for Skye which he would give her at the safe house. He had to restrain himself from imagining her in the alluring undergarments. Unfortunately, the more he tried to avoid that image the more it burned itself into his mind and he could feel that he was getting hard. He needed to get out of there, reach the truck and drive as fast as he possibly could to the safe house, where he would devour his goddess. Said and done. Within seconds he paid for all the items and rushed to the car.

„You were quick..." Skye wondered.

„Yeah, we need to get to the safe house, ASAP" Ward managed to say in one breath. Skye rose an eyebrow and gave him a concerned look.

„Is something wrong? Did someone recognize you? Are we in danger?"

„What? No. Everything is fine. I just want us to get there."

„O-kay. If you say so. What did you buy?" Before Ward could answer, Skye already grabbed the bag and searched through the items. She found the clothes and the little surprise Ward had bought for her and it dawned on her why he suddenly was so eager to get to the safe house. She turned to look at him, but he stoically watched the road, ignoring her stare. He knew she knew. But it didn't bother him. She could prepare herself mentally for what was about to come.

Sometimes Skye wondered where he found all that energy? But it didn't bother her. She loved this side of Grant Ward. She loved it very much. He was a specialist. Not just on the job, but also in bed. His preparation and execution was flawless. He was precise and right on time. The only difference between Grant Ward the specialist and Grant Ward the lover, he actually enjoyed being one. A lover, that is. Even though he could be thorough he took his time putting her needs before his. But sometimes, in the heat of the moment, he went back to the most basic of instincts. At such times he could be rough and he felt terrible every time he discovered a bruise on her. The only thing he never wanted was to hurt her. She was his life. The very air he needed to breathe. But Skye assured him that it was fine. That sometimes she liked it, being dominated. But both decided on a safe word, in case things got out of hand. _Battleship_. Skye smirked at the memory.

„_Don't worry, Grant. I'm not a china doll. I can handle it. Besides, it doesn't hurt."_

„_But I hurt you. I never wanted that..."_

„_Relax. I kinda liked it. Being dominated by the sexy beast" she said poking his chest. Ward leaned down and kissed her lips softly._

„_We need a safe word. Whenever I'm to rough you need to say it. I don't want to hurt you. I love you."_

„_I know, baby, I love you too. Ok, you are right. Sometimes things might go out of hand in the heat of the moment. How about Battleship?"_

„_Really?" Ward asked, one eyebrow raised._

„_Yeah. We both love the game and don't you think it's more appropriate than banana or cupcake or I don't know what else. This is who we are."_

„_You're right. Battleship it is." Ward kissed her once again before letting sleep claim him._

„Are we there yet?" Skye asked impatiently.

„Almost."

Minutes later they reached their destination and Ward parked the car. Skye grabbed the bag and got out of the car, letting him lead the way. Skye was surprised to find a furnished apartment instead of a abandoned space infested with all kinds of rodents. Ward must have guessed what she was thinking and only asked „What? Did you expect anything less for my own personal goddess?"

„Aren't you the charmer? But yeah, I kinda did. It's adorable. Where's the kitchen?"

Ward showed her to the kitchen where they stored the food and water bottles. After that he showed her the rest of the apartment, leaving the bedroom for last. Skye had wide eyes when she saw the oversized bed in the middle of the room. It looked brand new and she wondered if anyone ever slept in it.

„Where is the shower?"

„Come. I'll show you. You'll need to let the water heat up before you get in." She only nodded and followed him.

The bathroom was rather small, but it didn't bother her. Compared to the shower on the Bus this one looked almost huge. Almost.

„You don't need to leave", said Skye grinning, while tossing her shirt to the floor.

„I need to get something." Ward left the bathroom but returned in time to watch her climb into the shower. The sound of running water made it almost impossible for her to hear him re-enter the bathroom. He quickly got rid of his own clothes, got into the shower and slid one arm around her waist, pulling her back against his chest. Skye was a little startled but turned around imediately pressing herself closer to the man before her. His hands ran up and down her body, caressing every inch of her skin. He loved everything about her, every curve, every scar, every imperfection, if there was any. To him she was the most beautiful and precious being in the universe. He would love this woman for as long as he lived and beyond even that. As long as she smiled the world was brighter. As long as she breathed he was alive. As long as she lived there was hope, even for someone like him and he vowed he would make her the happiest woman on Earth. He didn't know how he would do it, but he would spend every waking hour figuring it out.

He kissed her long and passionately on her lips before he moved south to her throat, then to her pulse point, to her collarbone, to her breasts. He took several minutes to masage the perfect shaped chest of the woman he loved before he knelt down trailing lingering kisses along his way down. When he reached her belly button he licked it and pushed his tongue into it forcing a moan out of her. He then moved further south and stopped in front of her already wet entrance, taking a deep breath. He could smell her arousal in his nostrils and it only fueled his own arousal to the extreme. He had to shake it off to avoid release. He started licking and gently sucking on her clit, while he penetrated her womanhood with one digit. Skye moaned at the wonderful sensation and could only mutter short sentences, that seemed far away.

„More..."

Ward grinned. He slid another digit into her thrusting several times before he felt her walls tighten around his fingers. Moments later he removed them and felt her wetness running down his hand. He was proud of himself. He loved to please her, to make her jump over the edge over and over again, knowing that she reserved this side of her only for him. He pressed a soft kiss to her entrance and stood up wrapping his strong arms around her tiny frame, holding her steady.

„I love you" Skye whispered into his chest, after she regained her voice.

„I love you too. We should shower now. My guess it won't take long until the hot water runs out."

They both finished quickly in the shower and left for the bedroom. The day was exhausting and they both fell asleep almost instantly.


End file.
